Comprehensive Biomechanical Characterization of the Flexible Cat Spine via Finite Element Analysis, Experimental Observations, and Morphological Insights

IF 4.9 3区计算机科学 Q1 ENGINEERING, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Journal of Bionic Engineering Pub Date : 2024-11-14 DOI:10.1007/s42235-024-00594-4

Da Lu, Xueqing Wu, Yangyang Xu, Shijia Zhang, Le Zhang, Xin Huang, Baoqing Pei

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Felids, during intense activities such as jumping and sprinting, adjust their posture by twisting and stretching their body to disperse limb impact and minimize injury. This self-stabilization mechanism has garnered significant attention for inspiring biometric robot design. This study investigates the flexibility and cushioning characteristics of a cat’s spine, focusing on its biomechanical properties. A high-fidelity 3D model was used to test the range of motion (ROM) under six conditions, simulate dorsiflexion to analyze stress distribution. The torsional and compressive stiffness were tested by using five cat spinal specimens. the flexibility principles of the flexible cat’s spine were explained via morphological insights. Results indicate that the cat spine has the least rotational stiffness in axial rotation, followed by extension and lateral bending, with a compressive stiffness of 53.62 ± 4.68 N/mm. Stress during dorsiflexion is evenly distributed across vertebrae. The vertebrae heights account for 90.34% of total spinal length with a mean height-to-width ratio of 1.04. Cats’ spines, with more articulations and elongated vertebrae, allow for significant twisting and bending, aiding in rapid body posture adjustments and impact mitigation. These biomechanical traits could inspire the design of robots for confined rescue operations.

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通过有限元分析、实验观察和形态学见解全面描述柔性猫脊柱的生物力学特征

猫科动物在进行跳跃和冲刺等激烈运动时，会通过扭转和伸展身体来调整姿势，以分散肢体的冲击力，最大限度地减少伤害。这种自我稳定机制在启发生物识别机器人设计方面备受关注。本研究调查了猫脊柱的灵活性和缓冲特性，重点关注其生物力学特性。使用高保真三维模型测试了猫在六种条件下的运动范围（ROM），模拟了背屈以分析应力分布。使用五个猫脊柱标本对扭转和压缩刚度进行了测试，并通过形态学见解解释了柔性猫脊柱的柔性原理。结果表明，猫脊柱在轴向旋转时的旋转刚度最小，其次是伸展和侧弯，压缩刚度为 53.62 ± 4.68 N/mm。背屈时的应力均匀地分布在各个椎骨上。椎骨高度占脊柱总长度的 90.34%，平均高宽比为 1.04。猫的脊柱具有更多的关节和更长的椎骨，可以进行大幅度的扭转和弯曲，有助于快速调整身体姿势和减轻冲击。这些生物力学特征可以为密闭救援行动机器人的设计提供灵感。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Bionic Engineering 工程技术-材料科学：生物材料

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

10.00%

发文量

162

审稿时长

10.0 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Bionic Engineering (JBE) is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research papers and reviews that apply the knowledge learned from nature and biological systems to solve concrete engineering problems. The topics that JBE covers include but are not limited to: Mechanisms, kinematical mechanics and control of animal locomotion, development of mobile robots with walking (running and crawling), swimming or flying abilities inspired by animal locomotion. Structures, morphologies, composition and physical properties of natural and biomaterials; fabrication of new materials mimicking the properties and functions of natural and biomaterials. Biomedical materials, artificial organs and tissue engineering for medical applications; rehabilitation equipment and devices. Development of bioinspired computation methods and artificial intelligence for engineering applications.