Ulrike Wegst wrote:
>
>
> Julian Vincent schrieb:
>
>> Has anyone thought of compliance matching between pedestrian and car?
>
> What would nature suggest? A hedgehog car --- bull-bar gone extreme?
The bouncing hedgehog is a passive shock absorber with no orientation
component. At the other end of this continuum you have fighting goats,
deer, etc which commonly make sure that the forces involved in fighting
are carfully (serendipitous typo . . . ) aligned with their horns or
antlers interlocking. So the outer component is stiff and durable, but
the forces are dissipated in the neck muscles - rather like a compliant
hydraulic mounting. Bull bars should therefore be mounted on rubber
blocks attached to hydraulic shock absorbers, and designed so that they
can reorientate themselves on impact to present the greatest area in
contact with the obect, thus reducing contact stresses.
New design?
> Green design --- another form of biomimetics? I think: yes!
--
Julian FV Vincent [log in to unmask]
Professor of Biomimetics office 01225 386596
Centre for Biomimetics & Natural Technologies mobile 07941 933901
Dept of Mechanical Engineering fax 01225 386928
The University
BATH BA2 7AY
http://www.bath.ac.uk/Departments/Eng/biomimetics/
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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