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Main Authors: Chen, Yuming, Xu, Yifang, Yao, Yiran, Wang, Sihui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05371
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author Chen, Yuming
Xu, Yifang
Yao, Yiran
Wang, Sihui
author_facet Chen, Yuming
Xu, Yifang
Yao, Yiran
Wang, Sihui
contents The mystery behind the bird nest's construction is not well understood. Our study focuses on the stability of a self-supporting nest-like structure. Firstly, we derived a stable/unstable phase boundary for the structure at the fixed coefficient of friction with varying geometrical parameters through force analysis. Structures with a lower height and greater friction coefficient between rods are more stable. The theoretical phase boundary matched the experiment results well. Then we investigate the nest structure's stability under applied weight. Static structures with lower height and more rods (five>four>three) are more stable. Our theory also predicts a transition from plastic phase to elastic phase. These theoretical predictions are all confirmed by experiment. In the experiment, we also find that wet rod structures are more stable than dry ones. The structures can support up to 100 times of it's weight. Finally, we test the nest structure's stability under vibration. When there are no weights applied, we are able to identify the appropriate geometric configuration that can withstand the greatest vibration ($1g$ of vibration acceleration and vibration energy up to $4\times10^{-4}$ times of a rod's maximum potential energy). The critical vibration energy and acceleration depend on the applied weights. They are increased by two and one order of magnitude respectively under proper weight. We also make potential energy analysis to explain the stability of the structure.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_05371
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Self-supporting Structure of Bird Nests
Chen, Yuming
Xu, Yifang
Yao, Yiran
Wang, Sihui
Soft Condensed Matter
The mystery behind the bird nest's construction is not well understood. Our study focuses on the stability of a self-supporting nest-like structure. Firstly, we derived a stable/unstable phase boundary for the structure at the fixed coefficient of friction with varying geometrical parameters through force analysis. Structures with a lower height and greater friction coefficient between rods are more stable. The theoretical phase boundary matched the experiment results well. Then we investigate the nest structure's stability under applied weight. Static structures with lower height and more rods (five>four>three) are more stable. Our theory also predicts a transition from plastic phase to elastic phase. These theoretical predictions are all confirmed by experiment. In the experiment, we also find that wet rod structures are more stable than dry ones. The structures can support up to 100 times of it's weight. Finally, we test the nest structure's stability under vibration. When there are no weights applied, we are able to identify the appropriate geometric configuration that can withstand the greatest vibration ($1g$ of vibration acceleration and vibration energy up to $4\times10^{-4}$ times of a rod's maximum potential energy). The critical vibration energy and acceleration depend on the applied weights. They are increased by two and one order of magnitude respectively under proper weight. We also make potential energy analysis to explain the stability of the structure.
title Self-supporting Structure of Bird Nests
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05371