Snapping Mechanics of the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea Muscipula)
Snapping mechanics of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) Renate Sachsea,1,2, Anna Westermeierb,c,1,2, Max Mylob,c, Joey Nadasdid, Manfred Bischoffa, Thomas Speckb,c,e, and Simon Poppingab,e aInstitute for Structural Mechanics, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany; bPlant Biomechanics Group and Botanic Garden, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; cCluster of Excellence livMatS (Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems), Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, University of Freiburg, D-79110 Freiburg, Germany; dGrande Ecole MiM (Master in Management), ESSEC (École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales) Business School, 95021 Cergy-Pontoise, France; and eFreiburg Materials Research Center, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany Edited by Julian I. Schroeder, Cell and Developmental Biology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved May 21, 2020 (received for review February 13, 2020) The mechanical principles for fast snapping in the iconic Venus distribution appears to be approximately linear, which is, as flytrap are not yet fully understood. In this study, we obtained explained below, too coarse to produce finite element (FE) time-resolved strain distributions via three-dimensional digital im- models behaving like the snap-through structures resembling a age correlation (DIC) for the outer and inner trap-lobe surfaces Venus flytrap. Such sudden change from one stable geometric throughout the closing motion. In combination with finite element configuration to another can be best understood by the analysis models, the various possible contributions of the trap tissue layers of equilibrium paths, which are essential for the analysis of the were investigated with respect to the trap’s movement behavior nonlinear deformation behavior of structures, as they allow the and the amount of strain required for snapping.
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