Mosquitoes possess the striking ability to walk on water because each of their legs has a huge water supporting force（WSF） that is 23 times their body weight.Aiming at a full understanding of the origins of this extremely large force,in this study,we concentrate on two aspects of it：the intrinsic properties of the leg surface and the active control of the initial stepping angle of the whole leg.Using a measurement system that we developed ourselves,the WSFs for the original leg samples are compared with those whose surface wax and microstructures have been removed and with those of a different stiffness.The results show that leg f exibility plays a dominant role over surface wax and microstructures on the leg surface in creating the supporting force.Moreover,we discuss the dependence relationship between the maximum WSF and the initial stepping angle,which indicates that the mosquito can regulate this angle to increase or decrease the WSF during landing or takeoff.These finding are helpful for uncovering the locomotion mechanism of aquatic insects and for providing inspiration for the design of microfluids miniature boats,biomimetic robots,and microsensors.
In this study, we developed a general method to analytically tackle a kind of movable boundary problem from the viewpoint of energy variation. Having grouped the adhesion of a micro-beam, droplet and carbon nanotube （CNT） ring on a substrate into one framework, we used the developed line of reasoning to investigate the adhesion behaviors of these systems. Based upon the derived governing equations and transversality conditions, explicit solutions involving the critical parameters and morphologies for the three systems are successfully obtained, and then the parameter analogies and common characteristics of them are thor- oughly investigated. The presented method has been verified via the concept of energy release rate in fracture mechanics. Our analyses provide a new approach for exploring the mechanism of different systems with similarities as well as for understanding the unity of nature. The analysis results may be beneficial for the design of nano-structured materi- als, and hold potential for enhancing their mechanical, chemical, optical and electronic properties.
The parametric excited vibration of a pipe under thermal loading may occur because the fluid is often transported heatedly. The effects of thermal loading on the pipe stability and local bifurcations have rarely been studied. The stability and the local bifurcations of the lateral parametric resonance of the pipe induced by the pulsating fluid velocity and the thermal loading are studied. A mathematical model for a simply supported pipe is developed according to the Hamilton principle. Two partial differential equations describing the lateral and longitudinal vibration are obtained. The singularity theory is utilized to anMyze the stability and the bifurcation of the system solutions. The transition sets and the bifurcation diagrams are obtained both in the unfolding parameter space and the physical parameter space, which can reveal the relationship between the thermal field parameter and the dynamic behaviors of the pipe. The frequency response and the relationship between the critical thermal rate and the pulsating fluid velocity are obtained. The numerical results demonstrate the accuracy of the single-mode expansion of the solution and the stability and local bifurcation analyses. It also confirms the existence of the chaos. The presented work can provide valuable information for the design of the pipeline and the controllers to prevent the structural instability.
In this study,we considered the wetting phenomenon on a general substrate from a new viewpoint of continuum mechanics.The analyses first show how the Wenzel and the Cassie models deviate the practical results in some special substrates,and then elucidate the mechanism of the triple contact line(TCL) moving.Based upon variational theory of the total free functional dealing with the movable boundary condition,we show that the macroscopic contact angle(MCA) expression is the corresponding transversality condition.It manifests that the MCA depends only on the chemical and geometric property at the TCL,and is not affected by the gravity of the droplet and the contact area beneath the liquid.Our continuum model also shows the exploration of the pinning effect on a sharp wedge or the interface between two different phases.This investigation will help designing super-hydrophobic materials for novel micro-fluidic devices.
