摘要
To investigate the mechanism of brain protection of woodpecker,we built a finite element model of a whole woodpecker using computed topography scanning technique and geometry modeling.Dynamic analyses reveal:(i)99.7%of the impact energy is converted into strain energy in the bulk of body and 0.3%is converted into strain energy in the head after three successive peckings,indicating the majority of the impact energy is stored in the bulk of body;(ii)the strain energy in brain is mainly converted into the dissipated energy,alleviating the mechanical injury to brain;(iii)the deformation and the effective energy dissipation of the beaks facilitate the decrease of the stress and impact energy transferred to the brain;(iv)the skull and dura mater not only provide the physical protection for the brain,but also diminish the strain energy in the brain by energy dissipation;(v)the binding of skull with the hyoid bone enhances the anti-shock ability of head.The whole body of the woodpecker gets involved in the energy conversion and forms an efficient anti-shock protection system for brain.
To investigate the mechanism of brain protection of woodpecker, we built a finite element model of a whole woodpecker using computed topography scanning technique and geometry modeling. Dynamic analyses reveal：（i） 99.7% of the impact energy is converted into strain energy in the bulk of body and 0.3% is converted into strain energy in the head after three successive peckings, indicating the majority of the impact energy is stored in the bulk of body;（ii） the strain energy in brain is mainly converted into the dissipated energy, alleviating the mechanical injury to brain;（iii） the deformation and the effective energy dissipation of the beaks facilitate the decrease of the stress and impact energy transferred to the brain;（iv） the skull and dura mater not only provide the physical protection for the brain, but also diminish the strain energy in the brain by energy dissipation;（v） the binding of skull with the hyoid bone enhances the anti-shock ability of head. The whole body of the woodpecker gets involved in the energy conversion and forms an efficient anti-shock protection system for brain.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11272080)
the Doctoral Education Foundation of China Education Ministry(Grant No.20110041110021)
the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China(Grant No.DUT14LK36)
