Meeting Abstract
The mechanical responses of biological superstructures, including feathers, span multiple hierarchically organized scales; but despite their potential role in quantifying structure and function, the experimental and computational methods for modeling mechanics rarely support multiscale analysis. At the same time, numerical modeling via basic beam theory is insufficient to capture the geometric complexity of feather shafts (largely responsible for increased bending resistance), and finite element analysis (FEA) remains time and labor intensive. We introduce a new approach for model simplification: geometrical complexities are captured via computer tomography (CT) and automatically mapped as variations of stiffness within a simpler geometry. Because both the original and simpler mapped geometry have equivalent flexural stiffness, it is possible to obtain identical responses given the same set of loading characteristics. We detail the experimental validation of the proposed methodology (with a numerical verification against traditional FEA), and explore its application to feathers of different internal geometries and multi-unit configurations. The results indicate that the simplified equivalent shape can accurately predict bending deflection in a cantilevered feather shaft, while improving model construction and computational efficiency compared to traditional FEA.
