The Library
Curvature-induced stiffening of a fish fin
Tools
Nguyen, Khoi, Yu, Ning, Bandi, Mahesh M., Venkadesan, Madhusudhan and Mandre, Shreyas (2017) Curvature-induced stiffening of a fish fin. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 14 (130). 20170247. doi:10.1098/rsif.2017.0247 ISSN 1742-5689.
|
PDF
WRAP-curvature-induced-stiffening-fish-tin-Mandre-2017.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (5Mb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2017.0247
Abstract
How fish modulate their fin stiffness during locomotive manoeuvres remains unknown. We show that changing the fin's curvature modulates its stiffness. Modelling the fin as bendable bony rays held together by a membrane, we deduce that fin curvature is manifested as a misalignment of the principal bending axes between neighbouring rays. An external force causes neighbouring rays to bend and splay apart, and thus stretches the membrane. This coupling between bending the rays and stretching the membrane underlies the increase in stiffness. Using three-dimensional reconstruction of a mackerel (Scomber japonicus) pectoral fin for illustration, we calculate the range of stiffnesses this fin is expected to span by changing curvature. The three-dimensional reconstruction shows that, even in its geometrically flat state, a functional curvature is embedded within the fin microstructure owing to the morphology of individual rays. As the ability of a propulsive surface to transmit force to the surrounding fluid is limited by its stiffness, the fin curvature controls the coupling between the fish and its surrounding fluid. Thereby, our results provide mechanical underpinnings and morphological predictions for the hypothesis that the spanned range of fin stiffnesses correlates with the behaviour and the ecological niche of the fish.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | Q Science > QA Mathematics Q Science > QH Natural history |
||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Mathematics | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Fluid mechanics -- Mathematical models, Fins (Anatomy), Biomechanics -- Mathematical models, Curvature | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of The Royal Society Interface | ||||||||
Publisher: | The Royal Society Publishing | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1742-5689 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 31 May 2017 | ||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||
Volume: | 14 | ||||||||
Number: | 130 | ||||||||
Article Number: | 20170247 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1098/rsif.2017.0247 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 25 October 2019 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 25 October 2019 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
|
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year