Journal
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
Volume 11, Issue 92, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0988
Keywords
feather; interlocking; numerical model
Categories
Funding
- German Science Foundation (DFG) Initiative 'Bionik' (DFG) [GO995/7-1]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The bird feather vane can be separated into two parts by pulling the barbs apart. The original state can be re-established easily by lightly stroking through the feather. Hooklets responsible for holding vane barbs together are not damaged by multiple zipping and unzipping cycles. Because numerous microhooks keep the integrity of the feather, their properties are of great interest for understanding mechanics of the entire feather structure. This study was undertaken to estimate the separation force of single hooklets and their arrays using force measurement of an unzipping feather vane. The hooklets usually separate in some number synchronously (20 on average) with the highest observed separation force of 1.74 mN (average force 0.27 mN), whereas the single hooklet separation force was 14 mu N. A simple numerical model was suggested for a better understanding of zipping and unzipping behaviour in feathers. The model demonstrates features similar to those observed in experiments.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available