The bombardier beetle and its use of a pressure relief valve system to deliver a periodic pulsed spray

In this paper the combustion chamber of the bombardier beetle is considered and recent findings are presented which demonstrate that certain parts of the anatomy are in fact inlet and outlet valves. In particular, the authors show that the intake and exhaust valve mechanism involves a repeated (puls...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioinspiration & biomimetics 2007-12, Vol.2 (4), p.57-64
Main Authors: Beheshti, Novid, Mcintosh, Andy C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biomimetics - methods
Coleoptera - physiology
Computer Simulation
Defense Mechanisms
Microfluidics - methods
Models, Biological
Pulsatile Flow - physiology
Steam
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Summary:In this paper the combustion chamber of the bombardier beetle is considered and recent findings are presented which demonstrate that certain parts of the anatomy are in fact inlet and outlet valves. In particular, the authors show that the intake and exhaust valve mechanism involves a repeated (pulsating) steam explosion, the principle of which was up till now unclear. New research here has now shown the characteristics of the ejections and the role of important valves. In this paper numerical simulations of the two-phase flow ejection are presented which demonstrate that the principle of cyclic water injection followed by water and steam decompression explosions is the fundamental mechanism used to create the repeated ejections.
ISSN:1748-3190
1748-3182
1748-3190
DOI:10.1088/1748-3182/2/4/001