Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras
Maple trees (genus <i>Acer</i>) accomplish the task of distributing objects to a wide area by producing seeds, known as samaras, which are carried by the wind as they autorotate and slowly descend to the ground. With the goal of supporting engineering applications, such as gathering envi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Biomimetics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/6/2/23 |
| _version_ | 1797539678972280832 |
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| author | Gary K. Nave Nathaniel Hall Katrina Somers Brock Davis Hope Gruszewski Craig Powers Michael Collver David G. Schmale Shane D. Ross |
| author_facet | Gary K. Nave Nathaniel Hall Katrina Somers Brock Davis Hope Gruszewski Craig Powers Michael Collver David G. Schmale Shane D. Ross |
| author_sort | Gary K. Nave |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maple trees (genus <i>Acer</i>) accomplish the task of distributing objects to a wide area by producing seeds, known as samaras, which are carried by the wind as they autorotate and slowly descend to the ground. With the goal of supporting engineering applications, such as gathering environmental data over a broad area, we developed 3D-printed artificial samaras. Here, we compare the behavior of both natural and artificial samaras in both still-air laboratory experiments and wind dispersal experiments in the field. We show that the artificial samaras are able to replicate (within one standard deviation) the behavior of natural samaras in a lab setting. We further use the notion of windage to compare dispersal behavior, and show that the natural samara has the highest mean windage, corresponding to the longest flights during both high wind and low wind experimental trials. This study demonstrated a bioinspired design for the dispersed deployment of sensors and provides a better understanding of wind-dispersal of both natural and artificial samaras. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:49:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ea0d874c607462dbdaf6f9b682ee205 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-7673 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:49:19Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomimetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ea0d874c607462dbdaf6f9b682ee2052023-11-21T13:12:10ZengMDPI AGBiomimetics2313-76732021-03-01622310.3390/biomimetics6020023Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple SamarasGary K. Nave0Nathaniel Hall1Katrina Somers2Brock Davis3Hope Gruszewski4Craig Powers5Michael Collver6David G. Schmale7Shane D. Ross8Engineering Mechanics Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USAEngineering Mechanics Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USASchool of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USASchool of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USABlacksburg High School, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USASchool of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USADepartment of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USAMaple trees (genus <i>Acer</i>) accomplish the task of distributing objects to a wide area by producing seeds, known as samaras, which are carried by the wind as they autorotate and slowly descend to the ground. With the goal of supporting engineering applications, such as gathering environmental data over a broad area, we developed 3D-printed artificial samaras. Here, we compare the behavior of both natural and artificial samaras in both still-air laboratory experiments and wind dispersal experiments in the field. We show that the artificial samaras are able to replicate (within one standard deviation) the behavior of natural samaras in a lab setting. We further use the notion of windage to compare dispersal behavior, and show that the natural samara has the highest mean windage, corresponding to the longest flights during both high wind and low wind experimental trials. This study demonstrated a bioinspired design for the dispersed deployment of sensors and provides a better understanding of wind-dispersal of both natural and artificial samaras.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/6/2/23wind dispersalmaple samarasautorotationadditive manufacturingbiomimicry |
| spellingShingle | Gary K. Nave Nathaniel Hall Katrina Somers Brock Davis Hope Gruszewski Craig Powers Michael Collver David G. Schmale Shane D. Ross Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras Biomimetics wind dispersal maple samaras autorotation additive manufacturing biomimicry |
| title | Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras |
| title_full | Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras |
| title_fullStr | Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras |
| title_short | Wind Dispersal of Natural and Biomimetic Maple Samaras |
| title_sort | wind dispersal of natural and biomimetic maple samaras |
| topic | wind dispersal maple samaras autorotation additive manufacturing biomimicry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/6/2/23 |
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