Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests

Abstract Materials and construction methods of nests vary between bird species and at present, very little is known about the relationships between architecture and function in these structures. This study combines computational and experimental techniques to study the structural biology of nests fa...

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Autores principales:	Hadass R. Jessel, Sagi Chen, Shmuel Osovski, Sol Efroni, Daniel Rittel, Ido Bachelet
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2019
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c27bd03ce3f648189c892335d5e6f599
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c27bd03ce3f648189c892335d5e6f5992021-12-02T16:08:28ZDesign principles of biologically fabricated avian nests10.1038/s41598-019-41245-72045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c27bd03ce3f648189c892335d5e6f5992019-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41245-7https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Materials and construction methods of nests vary between bird species and at present, very little is known about the relationships between architecture and function in these structures. This study combines computational and experimental techniques to study the structural biology of nests fabricated by the edible nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus on vertical rock walls using threaded saliva. Utilizing its own saliva as a construction material allows the swiftlets full control over the structural features at a very high resolution in a process similar to additive manufacturing. It was hypothesized that the mechanical properties would vary between the structural regions of the nest (i.e. anchoring to the wall, center of the cup, and rim) mainly by means of architecture to offer structural support and bear the natural loads of birds and eggs. We generated numerical models of swiftlet nests from μCT scans based on collected swiftlet nests, which we loaded with a force of birds and eggs. This was done in order to study and assess the stress distribution that characterizes the specific nest’s architecture, evaluate its strength and weak points if any, as well as to understand the rationale and benefits that underlie this natural structure. We show that macro- and micro-scale structural patterns are identical in all nests, suggesting that their construction is governed by specific design principles. The nests’ response to applied loads of birds and eggs in finite element simulations suggests a mechanical overdesign strategy, which ensures the stresses experienced by its components in any loading scenario are actively minimized to be significantly smaller than the tensile fracture strength of the nests’ material. These findings highlight mechanical overdesign as a biological strategy for resilient, single-material constructions designed to protect eggs and hatchlings.Hadass R. JesselSagi ChenShmuel OsovskiSol EfroniDaniel RittelIdo BacheletNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Hadass R. Jessel Sagi Chen Shmuel Osovski Sol Efroni Daniel Rittel Ido Bachelet Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
description	Abstract Materials and construction methods of nests vary between bird species and at present, very little is known about the relationships between architecture and function in these structures. This study combines computational and experimental techniques to study the structural biology of nests fabricated by the edible nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus on vertical rock walls using threaded saliva. Utilizing its own saliva as a construction material allows the swiftlets full control over the structural features at a very high resolution in a process similar to additive manufacturing. It was hypothesized that the mechanical properties would vary between the structural regions of the nest (i.e. anchoring to the wall, center of the cup, and rim) mainly by means of architecture to offer structural support and bear the natural loads of birds and eggs. We generated numerical models of swiftlet nests from μCT scans based on collected swiftlet nests, which we loaded with a force of birds and eggs. This was done in order to study and assess the stress distribution that characterizes the specific nest’s architecture, evaluate its strength and weak points if any, as well as to understand the rationale and benefits that underlie this natural structure. We show that macro- and micro-scale structural patterns are identical in all nests, suggesting that their construction is governed by specific design principles. The nests’ response to applied loads of birds and eggs in finite element simulations suggests a mechanical overdesign strategy, which ensures the stresses experienced by its components in any loading scenario are actively minimized to be significantly smaller than the tensile fracture strength of the nests’ material. These findings highlight mechanical overdesign as a biological strategy for resilient, single-material constructions designed to protect eggs and hatchlings.
format	article
author	Hadass R. Jessel Sagi Chen Shmuel Osovski Sol Efroni Daniel Rittel Ido Bachelet
author_facet	Hadass R. Jessel Sagi Chen Shmuel Osovski Sol Efroni Daniel Rittel Ido Bachelet
author_sort	Hadass R. Jessel
title	Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
title_short	Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
title_full	Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
title_fullStr	Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
title_full_unstemmed	Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
title_sort	design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/c27bd03ce3f648189c892335d5e6f599
work_keys_str_mv	AT hadassrjessel designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests AT sagichen designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests AT shmuelosovski designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests AT solefroni designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests AT danielrittel designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests AT idobachelet designprinciplesofbiologicallyfabricatedaviannests
_version_	1718384493708967936

Design principles of biologically fabricated avian nests

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