A New Collaborative Effort for Biomimetic-Based Research on Thermoregulatory Behavior of Stabilized Soils

该提案旨在促进与英国诺丁汉大学的Matthew Hall教授的新合作，以模仿人类/动物皮肤中的血管网络等生物系统和工程稳定土壤作为温度调节建筑元件。霍尔教授是稳定土壤的主要研究人员，他拥有研究土壤湿热行为所需的独特设施。他的团队进行的研究开辟了工程稳定土壤控制其湿热特性的可能性。π吗?他最近在仿生学和霍尔？对稳定土热湿特性的研究是相辅相成的，它们的共同作用将为这一主题的长期研究带来协同价值。这种新的合作努力的智力价值在于如何通过使用植物纤维对土壤样品进行仿生设计，将稳定土壤的被动温度调节行为转变为主动行为。通过对皮肤微循环的理解，使组织和血液温度之间的差异得以调和，并通过控制热量的产生和损失来调节身体核心温度，稳定土壤将被设计成模仿高度进化的皮肤系统。这个CNIC项目推动的新的科学方向将在三个方面产生广泛的影响：1)它将为使用天然材料（土壤和植物为基础）的工程建设的可持续实践提供正式的基础，2)它将模仿生物系统的能源效率来设计土壤作为主动的温度调节器，3)它将为工程教育开辟一个新的跨学科维度。

a technical description This proposal is to catalyze a new collaborative effort with Prof. Matthew Hall of the University of Nottingham, UK, to imitate biological systems such as vascular network in human/animal skin and engineer stabilized soils as thermoregulatory building elements. Prof Hall is a leading researcher on stabilized soils, who has access to unique facilities required to study hygrothermal behavior of soils. Research conducted by his group has opened up the possibility of engineering stabilized soils to control their hygrothermal properties. The PI?s recent work on biomimetics and Prof Hall?s research on hygrothermal behavior of stabilized soils complement each other, and together they would bring synergistic value to long-term research on this theme.The intellectual merit of this new collaborative effort lies in how a passive thermoregulatory behavior of stabilized soil could be transformed to an active behavior through biomimetic design of soil samples using plant fibers. Through an understanding of the microcirculation in skin enabling the differences between tissue and blood temperatures to be reconciled, and regulation of body core temperature through manipulation of heat production and losses, stabilized soil will be engineered to mimic the highly-evolved skin systems.a non-technical explanation The new scientific direction facilitated by this CNIC project will have broad impact in three dimensions: i) it will develop a formal basis for the sustainable practice of engineering construction using natural materials (soil- and plant-based), ii) it will imitate the energy efficiency of biological systems to engineer soils as active thermoregulators, and iii) it will open up a new interdisciplinary dimension to engineering education.