RUI -- Computational and Experimental Biomechanics: Modeling the Non-linear Viscoelastic Behavior of the Vertebral Column of Swimming Elasmobranchs

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。在生物力学领域，研究人员使用工程学原理来了解动物是如何工作的。对于鲨鱼这样的游泳动物，人们对脊椎的工作原理知之甚少。脊椎是身体的主要骨架，像汽车的变速器一样运作，将动力从马达(肌肉)传递到身体的其他部位，以拍动尾巴。这项研究的中心问题是游鲨的脊柱是如何机械运作的。为了回答这个问题，研究人员使用了两种方法：(1)他们在定制的测试机中弯曲脊柱，该机器测量做出真实弯曲动作所需的力和功率，并使用弯曲测试的结果，(2)他们建立了一个在游泳鲨体内工作的脊柱的计算机模型。根据初步结果，研究人员预测，在鲨鱼游泳时，脊柱不仅传递力量和动力，还储存和释放弹簧能量。在一些物种中，研究人员还预计，脊柱可能会起到减震器的作用，帮助鲨鱼平滑转弯和加速等剧烈运动。这项研究创造了一种新工具，一种具有逼真生物力学特征的计算机模拟游鲨，可以用来研究许多不同种类的鲨鱼或其他动物的游泳生物力学，这些动物像鲨鱼一样，具有软骨而不是骨骼。此外，了解鲨鱼是如何利用脊椎游泳的，有助于设计新型高度机动性的水下机器人，用于海洋监测和探索。在这个项目的三年时间里，将给12名本科生提供生物力学和计算数学的实践培训。每个学生都将参加为期两年的学徒指导计划，首先在实验室向其他学生学习，然后再教授。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)In the field of biomechanics, researchers use engineering principles to understand how animals work. For swimming animals like sharks, little is known about the workings of their vertebral columns, the body's main skeleton that operates like a car's transmission, transferring power from the motor (muscles) to the rest of the body to flap the tail. How the vertebral column operates mechanically in a swimming shark is the central question of this research. To answer this question, the researchers use two approaches: (1) they bend vertebral columns in a customized testing machine that measures the force and power it takes to make realistic bending motions and, using results from the bending tests, (2) they build a computer model of the vertebral column working inside of a swimming shark. Based on initial results, the researchers predict that vertebral columns not only transmit force and power, but also store and release spring energy as the shark swims. In some species, researchers also expect that the vertebral column might work like a shock absorber to help the shark smooth out jerky motions like turns and accelerations. This research creates a new tool, a computer-simulated swimming shark with realistic biomechanical features that can be used to study the swimming biomechanics of many different kinds of sharks, or other animals that, like sharks, have a cartilaginous rather than bony skeleton. In addition, understanding how sharks use their vertebral column to swim can help design new kinds of highly maneuverable underwater vehicles for oceanic monitoring and exploration. Over the three years of this project, hands-on training in biomechanics and computational mathematics will be given to 12 undergraduate students. Each student will engage in a two-year apprenticeship-mentorship program, first learning from and then teaching other students in the laboratory.