Reconstruction of Geometrical Structure of Claw of Mole Rat (Scaptochirus moschatus) and Finite Element Analysis of Claw against Soil

Abstract:

Mole rat, a typical soil-burrowing animal, has high working efficiency during digging procedure, its claws are good biomimetic prototypes, and the geometrical structure of its claws and its movement type during digging can provide certain foundation for improving the design of the tillage implement. In this paper, based on the reverse engineering, the original data points of the claw was collected by a 3D laser scanner, then the accurate surface of the claw was created by using special software of reverse engineering on the premise of point-curve-surface method. The reconstructed CAD model was established in Pro/E software, and the model of interaction between the claws of mole rat and soil was obtained. The finite element method (FEM) was utilized to simulate the interaction of the claw against soil. The simulated results showed that the movement type of claw of mole rate during digging could get lower cutting resistance and bigger impact to soil.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 461)
• Pages: 108-113
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.461.108
• Online since: November 2013
• Authors: Wen Feng Ji, Jin Tong, Dong Hui Chen
• Keywords: Claw, Finite Element Method (FEM), Mole Rat (Scaptochirus moschatus), Reconstruction of Geometrical Structure, Reverse Engineering (RE)

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