Introduction to Biomimicry for Fluid Mechanics Students

Defne Apul and Jill ShalabiUniversity of ToledoDepartment of Civil EngineeringFeb. 3, 2009

You will use biomimicry in your projects

Part A: You will perform an experiment to measure somethingPart B: You will theoretically calculate what you would expect to see in theexperimentPart C: You will compare the results from parts A and B Part D: You will follow up with where else this phenomenon is used in natureand in existing technology

What is biomimicry? From

bios, meaning “life” + mimesis, meaning “to imitate”

Biomimicry = to imitate life

Biomimicry?

The “tail” of Velcro….

Biomimicry Definition Term first used by Janine Benyus in her

book, Biomimicry: Innovations Inspired by Nature (1997)

Viewing nature as role model/teacher– nature has already solved many of the technological and sustainability problems that we face today - learning from nature, not about nature

Imitate nature’s processes, not products

Conquest of Nature? “Conquest” of

nature has consequences in today’s scientific and social paradigms

Us vs. “Them” Us

Linear Centralized Individualistic Independent Inflexible Singular

Them Circular Decentralized Cooperative Interdependent Adaptive Redundant

Our Results Depleted natural resources Habitat loss Climate change Endangered/extinct species Persistent bioaccumulative toxins Dependence on petroleum Problems!

Their Results Life creates conditions conducive to life Energy only from sunlight Materials synthesized at ambient temperatures

using local materials No toxic pollution

only a few of all of chemically possible structures are synthesized (humans use the entire periodic table!)

No waste No problem!

Nature as Teacher When faced with a

problem, ask the question “What organism needs to solve the same problem to survive….What Would Nature Do?”

Nature as Teacher (cont’d) Inspiration - look to nature to transform

society water energy materials food

Invention - original processing starting with a natural process that solves a similar problem

Information - life adds info in the form of shape/structure

Some of nature’s teachers (Let’s give them a hand…..)

Whales

Kingfishers

Box fish

Termites (Look, Ma! No air conditioning…)

Seashells (Why aren’t they infinite in size?)

Pros and Cons UN Environmental Program has

biomimicry project – “Nature’s 100 Best”

Habitat conservation Copy nature’s products rather than

processes GE, Proctor & Gamble, Boeing, General

Mills, Nike recruiting biologists

Lotus effect

Pros and Cons (cont’d)

Complexity occurs at nano- and micro-scale Behavior cannot be deduced from a

knowledge of components – the whole is greater than the sum of parts

Nature doesn’t work toward some “final” goal like we (engineers) do Result of random experiments over thousands

or millions of generations

Summary We are facing increasing pressures:

Energy Water Materials Food

Nature has already “figured out” how to avoid these problems

Look to nature as a teacher/role model, but nature is not always cooperative…..

“It’s no problem to apply a 0.2 Newton pre-load to a patch of gecko adhesive and drag it in a distal direction at one micron per second. But try asking a gecko to do the same thing with its foot. It’ll probably just bite you.“ – Kellar Autumn, gecko adhesion researcher

Acknowledgements Slide #4 www.wisebread.com/hitching-a-ride-on-an-airplane Slide #5 http://estrip.org/elmwood/users/matthew/images/1105/burr3857.jpg

http://www.kidsgardening.com/2005.kids.garden.news/may/burrs.jpg Slide #6 Benyus, Janine. 1997. Biomimicry: Innovations Inspired by Nature.

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York, NY, 320 pp. Slide #7 http://www.marykayemusic.com/images/Illustrations/BigBadWolf.jpg Slide #8 http://greenasathistle.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/forks.jpg Slide #11http://www.stpatricksguild.com/prodimg/401530.JPG Slide #13 http://www.leopardgeckoguide.com/wp-content/gallery/geckos/gecko- feet.jpg Slide #14 http://earthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/whale-bump.jpg,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707222315.htmwww.animals.nationalgeographic.com

Slide#15 http://www.bioteams.com/images/nature_as_desig.jpg Slide #16 http://www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/mercedes-benz-bionic-car-

gallery.asp Slide #17 http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/10/building-modelled-on-termites-eastgate-

centre-in-zimbabwe/

Acknowledgements (cont’d) Slide #18 http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Seashell-on-Beach-

Posters_i1100827_.htm

http://www.virginpacificwater.com/whole_pipe_op_800x786.jpg Slide #19 UN Environmental Program

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=535&ArticleID=5816&l=en

Slide #20 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/1435241752_a20d75347f.jpg?v=0http://www.aerosil.com/pub/NR/rdonlyres/65199EEB-DD68-

422A-A27F- F91AF82BA85E/0/lotuseffect0005.jpgLotus

Effect:http://biodsign.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/lotus-effect- efecto-lotus/ Slide #23 http://www.tc.umn.edu/~gambl007/geckos/gekko_gecko_mo2.jpg

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/biomimetics/tom-mueller text/8