scholarly journals Constructal theory of design in engineering and nature

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Bejan
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Finite Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Constructal Theory ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Engineering Theory ◽  
Heart Beating ◽  
Size Constraints ◽  
Source Sink

This is a brief introduction to an engineering theory on the origin and generation of geometric form in all flow systems: the animate, the in animate and the engineered. The theory is named constructal, and is based on the thought that it is natural for cur rents to construct for them selves in time paths of greater flow access. It is shown that this process of flow path optimization can be reasoned on the basis of principle: the maximization of global performance subject to finite-size constraints. One example is the generation of tree-shaped flow pat terns, as paths of least resistance between one point (source, sink) and an infinity of points (area, volume), as in the circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems. Another is the generation of regular spacing's in heat generating volumes, such as swarms of honey - bees. The optimized tree-flow geometries ac count for allometric laws, e. g., the relation ship between the total tube contact area and the body size, the proportionality between metabolic rate and body size raised to the power 3/4, the proportionality between breathing and heart beating times and body size raised to the power 1/4, and the proportionality between the cruising speed of flying bodies (in sects, birds, air planes) and body mass raised to the power 1/6. The optimized flow structures constitute robust designs, and robustness improves as the complexity of the system increases. Flow architectures that are more efficient look more natural.

Constructal Trees of Convective Fins

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bejan ◽  
N. Dan
Keyword(s):  
Finite Size ◽  
Constructal Theory ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Tree Structures ◽  
Source Sink ◽  
A Current ◽  
Geometric Detail ◽  
Uniform Stream ◽  
Volume Size

This paper extends to the field of convective heat transfer the constructal theory of optimizing the access of a current that flows between one point and a finite-size volume, when the volume size is constrained. The volume is bathed by a uniform stream. A small amount of high-conductivity fin material is distributed optimally through the volume, and makes the connection between the volume and one point (fin root) on its boundary. The optimization proceeds in a series of volume subsystems of increasing sizes (elemental volume, first construct, second construct). The shape of the volume and the relative thicknesses of the fins are optimized at each level of assembly. The optimized structure emerges as a tree of fins in which every geometric detail is a result of minimizing the thermal resistance between the finite-size volume and the root point (source, sink). Convection occurs in the interstitial spaces of the tree. The paper shows that several of the geometric details of the optimized structure are robust, i.e., relatively insensitive to changes in other design parameters. The paper concludes with a discussion of constructal theory and the relevance of the optimized tree structures to predicting natural self-organization and self-optimization.

From Heat Transfer Principles to Shape and Structure in Nature: Constructal Theory

2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Bejan
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Fluid Flows ◽  
Constructal Theory ◽  
Void Space ◽  
Engineering Theory ◽  
Body Heat

This lecture reviews a relatively recent body of heat transfer work that bases on a deterministic (constructal) principle the occurrence of geometric form in systems with internal flows. The same principle of global optimization subject to constraints allow us to anticipate the natural (animate and inanimate) flow architectures that surround us. The lecture starts with the example of the optimal spatial distribution of material (e.g., heat exchanger equipment) in power plants. Similarly, void space can be allocated optimally to construct flow channels in the volume occupied by a heat generating system. The lecture continues with the optimization of the path for heat flow between a volume and one point. It shows that when the heat flow can choose between at least two paths, low conductivity versus high conductivity, the optimal flow structure for minimal global resistance in steady flow is a tree. Nearly the same tree is deduced by minimizing the time of discharge in the flow from a volume to one point. Analogous tree-shaped flows are constructed in pure fluid flows, and in flow through a heterogeneous porous medium. The optimization of trees that combine heat transfer and fluid flow is illustrated by means of two-dimensional trees of plate fins. The method is extended to the superposition of two fluid trees in counterflow, as in vascularized tissues under the skin. The two trees in counterflow are one tree of convective heat currents that effect the loss of body heat. It is shown that the optimized geometry of the tree is responsible for the proportionalities between body heat loss and body size raised to the power 3/4, and between breathing time and body size raised to the power 1/4. The optimized structures are robust with respect to changes in some of the externally specified parameters. When more degrees-of-freedom are allowed, the optimized structure looks more natural. The lecture outlines a unique opportunity for engineers to venture beyond their discipline, and to construct an engineering theory on the origin and workings of naturally organized systems. [S0022-1481(00)02403-8]

scholarly journals Incubation behaviours of oviraptorosaur dinosaurs in relation to body size

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 20180135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohei Tanaka ◽  
Darla K. Zelenitsky ◽  
Junchang Lü ◽  
Christopher L. DeBuhr ◽  
Laiping Yi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
The Body ◽  
Nest Area ◽  
Ring Configuration ◽  
Incubation Behaviour ◽  
Size Constraints ◽  
Central Opening ◽  
Giant Species

Most birds sit on their eggs during incubation, a behaviour that likely evolved among non-avian dinosaurs. Several ‘brooding' specimens of smaller species of oviraptorosaurs and troodontids reveal these non-avian theropods sat on their eggs, although little is known of incubation behaviour in larger theropod species. Here we examine egg clutches over a large body size range of oviraptorosaurs in order to understand the potential effect of body size on incubation behaviour. Eggshell porosity indicates that the eggs of all oviraptorosaurs were exposed in the nest, similar to brooding birds. Although all oviraptorosaur clutches consist of radially arranged eggs in a ring configuration, clutch morphology varies in that the central opening is small or absent in the smallest species, becomes significantly larger in larger species, and occupies most of the nest area in giant species. Our results suggest that the smallest oviraptorosaurs probably sat directly on the eggs, whereas with increasing body size more weight was likely carried by the central opening, reducing or eliminating the load on the eggs and still potentially allowing for some contact during incubation in giant species. This adaptation, not seen in birds, appears to remove the body size constraints of incubation behaviour in giant oviraptorosaurs.

The Body Size of Headstarted and Wild Juvenile European Pond Turtles (Emys orbicularis)

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Sławomir Mitrus ◽  
Bartłomiej Najbar ◽  
Adam Kotowicz ◽  
Anna Najbar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Emys Orbicularis

scholarly journals First record of Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Gervais, 1850) from Ukraine on the background of the European occurrence of the species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Marciszak ◽  
Yuriy Semenov ◽  
Piotr Portnicki ◽  
Tamara Derkach
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
First Record ◽  
The Body ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Eastern Asia ◽  
South Eastern

AbstractCranial material ofPachycrocuta brevirostrisfrom the late Early Pleistocene site of Nogaisk is the first record of this species in Ukraine. This large hyena was a representative of the Tamanian faunal complex and a single specialised scavenger in these faunas. The revisited European records list ofP.brevirostrisdocumented the presence of this species in 101 sites, dated in the range of 3.5–0.4 Ma. This species first disappeared in Africa, survived in Europe until ca. 0.8–0.7 Ma, and its last, relict occurrence was known from south-eastern Asia. The main reason of extinction ofP.brevirostrisprobably was the competition withCrocuta crocuta. The cave hyena was smaller, but its teeth were proportionally larger to the body size, better adapted to crushing bones and slicing meat, and could also hunt united in larger groups.

scholarly journals Movement of a finite body in channel flow

2016 ◽  
Vol 472 (2191) ◽  
pp. 20160164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank T. Smith ◽  
Edward R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Channel Flow ◽  
Flow Instability ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Finite Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Thin Body ◽  
Shear Stresses ◽  
Unsteady Interaction ◽  
High Reynolds

A body of finite size is moving freely inside, and interacting with, a channel flow. The description of this unsteady interaction for a comparatively dense thin body moving slowly relative to flow at medium-to-high Reynolds number shows that an inviscid core problem with vorticity determines much, but not all, of the dominant response. It is found that the lift induced on a body of length comparable to the channel width leads to differences in flow direction upstream and downstream on the body scale which are smoothed out axially over a longer viscous length scale; the latter directly affects the change in flow directions. The change is such that in any symmetric incident flow the ratio of slopes is found to be cos ⁡ ( π / 7 ) , i.e. approximately 0.900969, independently of Reynolds number, wall shear stresses and velocity profile. The two axial scales determine the evolution of the body and the flow, always yielding instability. This unusual evolution and linear or nonlinear instability mechanism arise outside the conventional range of flow instability and are influenced substantially by the lateral positioning, length and axial velocity of the body.

scholarly journals Insect body size changes under future warming projections: a case study of Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera)

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rungtip Wonglersak ◽  
Phillip B. Fenberg ◽  
Peter G. Langdon ◽  
Stephen J. Brooks ◽  
Benjamin W. Price
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Wing Length ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mesocosm Experiments ◽  
Future Warming ◽  
Increasing Temperature ◽  
Emergence Date ◽  
Average Body

AbstractChironomids are a useful group for investigating body size responses to warming due to their high local abundance and sensitivity to environmental change. We collected specimens of six species of chironomids every 2 weeks over a 2-year period (2017–2018) from mesocosm experiments using five ponds at ambient temperature and five ponds at 4°C higher than ambient temperature. We investigated (1) wing length responses to temperature within species and between sexes using a regression analysis, (2) interspecific body size responses to test whether the body size of species influences sensitivity to warming, and (3) the correlation between emergence date and wing length. We found a significantly shorter wing length with increasing temperature in both sexes of Procladius crassinervis and Tanytarsus nemorosus, in males of Polypedilum sordens, but no significant relationship in the other three species studied. The average body size of a species affects the magnitude of the temperature-size responses in both sexes, with larger species shrinking disproportionately more with increasing temperature. There was a significant decline in wing length with emergence date across most species studied (excluding Polypedilum nubeculosum and P. sordens), indicating that individuals emerging later in the season tend to be smaller.

scholarly journals Potential host ranges of three Asian larval parasitoids of Drosophila suzukii

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent M. Daane ◽  
Xingeng Wang ◽  
Brian N. Hogg ◽  
Antonio Biondi
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Classical Biological Control ◽  
Developmental Time ◽  
The Body ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Egg Load ◽  
Drosophila Suzukii ◽  
Larval Parasitoids ◽  
Female Body Size

AbstractAsobara japonica (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Ganaspis brasiliensis and Leptopilina japonica (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) are Asian larval parasitoids of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae). This study evaluated these parasitoids’ capacity to attack and develop from 24 non-target drosophilid species. Results showed that all three parasitoids were able to parasitize host larvae of multiple non-target species in artificial diet; A. japonica developed from 19 tested host species, regardless of the phylogenetic position of the host species, L. japonica developed from 11 tested species; and G. brasiliensis developed from only four of the exposed species. Success rate of parasitism (i.e., the probability that an adult wasp successfully emerged from a parasitized host) by the two figitid parasitoids was low in hosts other than the three species in the melanogaster group (D. melanogaster, D. simulans, and D. suzukii). The failure of the figitids to develop in most of the tested host species appears to correspond with more frequent encapsulation of the parasitoids by the hosts. The results indicate that G. brasiliensis is the most host specific to D. suzukii, L. japonica attacks mainly species in the melanogaster group and A. japonica is a generalist, at least physiologically. Overall, the developmental time of the parasitoids increased with the host’s developmental time. The body size of female A. japonica (as a model species) was positively related to host size, and mature egg load of female wasps increased with female body size. We discuss the use of these parasitoids for classical biological control of D. suzukii.

Prey Body Size and Ranking in Zooarchaeology: Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Applications from the Northern Great Basin

2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Broughton ◽  
Michael D. Cannon ◽  
Frank E. Bayham ◽  
David A. Byers
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Foraging Theory ◽  
Return Rate ◽  
The Body ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Abundance Indices ◽  
Game Hunting

The use of body size as an index of prey rank in zooarchaeology has fostered a widely applied approach to understanding variability in foraging efficiency. This approach has, however, been critiqued—most recently by the suggestion that large prey have high probabilities of failed pursuits. Here, we clarify the logic and history of using body size as a measure of prey rank and summarize empirical data on the body size-return rate relationship. With few exceptions, these data document strong positive relationships between prey size and return rate. We then illustrate, with studies from the Great Basin, the utility of body size-based abundance indices (e.g., the Artiodactyl Index) when used as one component of multidimensional analyses of prehistoric diet breadth. We use foraging theory to derive predictions about Holocene variability in diet breadth and test those predictions using the Artiodactyl Index and over a dozen other archaeological indices. The results indicate close fits between the predictions and the data and thus support the use of body size-based abundance indices as measures of foraging efficiency. These conclusions have implications for reconstructions of Holocene trends in large game hunting in western North America and for zooarchaeological applications of foraging theory in general.

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