Footpads dampen shock: bush-cricket

The tissue structure of cricket footpads dampens the shock of jumping due to a flexible exocuticle and dense fibers.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Maintain physical integrity >
	Manage structural forces >
	Impact

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Flexible couplings, shafts, tubing

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"The fluid within the pad between the filaments contributes to the visco-elastic behaviour of the pad, because the fluid is able to flow through the gaps between the rods, when the pad deforms during contact formation and breakage (Gorb et al. 2000). The interconnecting filaments presumably prevent rod buckling, when these are bending during contact. The pad presumably works as a damper during jump or landing at high speed of the deformation, as well as a means of replicating a complex substratum profile at slow deformation speeds. Also, the rod-like organization of the pad architecture would allow an independent local load distribution over the area of contact between pad and substrate. This would aid in an enhancement of the adaptation of the pad to imperfections of natural substrata…The structural principle, based on branching rods, contributes to holding the shape of the pad. This principle, combined with the presence of a relatively stiff superficial layer, provides the adaptability of the attachment pad to unevenness of natural substrata." (Perez Goodwyn et al. 2006:1241)

About the inspiring organism

Great Green Bush-cricket
Tettigonia viridissima (Linnaeus 1758)
[Great green bush-cricket]

IUCN Red List Status: Unknown

Some organism data provided by: OSF: Orthoptera Species File Online
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Flexible couplings, shafts, tubing.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Manufacturing, plumbing, building, water infrastructure systems

Experts

Evolutionary Biomaterials Group
Stanislav Gorb
Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung

References

Perez Goodwyn, P.; Peressadko, A.; Schwarz, H.; Kastner, V.; Gorb, S. 2006. Material structure, stiffness, and adhesion: Why attachment pads of the grasshopper (Tettigonia viridissima) adhere more strongly than those of the locust (Locusta migratoria) (Insecta: Orthoptera). Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 192(11): 1233-1243.

Footpads dampen shock: bush-cricket

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