Size-scale affects the upper limit of elastic energy storage

Ilton, Mark, Cox, Suzanne, Egelmeers, Thijs , Sutton, Gregory, Patek, Sheila and Crosby, Al (2019) Size-scale affects the upper limit of elastic energy storage. Soft Matter, 15 (46). pp. 9579-9586. ISSN 1744-683X

Full content URL: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SM00870E

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Size-scale affects the upper limit of elastic energy storage
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Abstract

Elastically-driven motion has been used as a strategy to achieve high speeds in small organisms and engineered micro-robotic devices. We examine the size-scaling relations determining the limit of elastic energy release from elastomer bands that efficiently cycle mechanical energy with minimal loss. The maximum center-of-mass velocity of the elastomer bands was found to be size-scale independent, while smaller bands demonstrated larger accelerations and shorter durations of elastic energy release. Scaling relationships determined from these measurements are consistent with the performance of small organisms and engineered devices which utilize elastic elements to power motion.

Keywords:elastic storage, biomechanics, LAMSA
Subjects:B Subjects allied to Medicine > B830 Biomechanics, Biomaterials and Prosthetics (non-clinical)
F Physical Sciences > F200 Materials Science
H Engineering > H671 Robotics
Divisions:College of Science > School of Life Sciences
ID Code:38858
Deposited On:12 Nov 2019 09:00

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