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strategy

Hydraulic action creates structural rigidity Edit title

Human Edit living systems
Profile PhotoAskNature TeamAugust 18, 2016
Shared with everyone Edit visibility
Gray's Anatomy /
Prevent buckling
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The penis of humans avoids buckling by hydraulic action of increased blood flow into the corpora cavernosa.

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References

"Two major branches of engineering mechanics are fluid mechanics and structural mechanics, with many practical problems involving the effect of the first on the second. An example is the design of an aircraft's wings to bend within reasonable limits without breaking under the action of lift forces exerted by the air flowing over them; another is the maintenance of the structural integrity of a dam designed to hold back a water reservoir which would exert very large forces on it. Similarly, fluid and structural mechanics are involved in the engineering analysis of erectile function: it is the hydraulic action of increased blood flow into the corpora cavernosa that creates the structural rigidity necessary to prevent collapse of the penile column." (Udelson 2007:1031)

Journal article
Biomechanics of male erectile functionJournal of The Royal Society InterfaceMay 3, 2007
Daniel Udelson

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Book
Comparative Biomechanics: Life's Physical World, Second EditionJune 17, 2013
Steven Vogel

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HumanHomo sapiensSpecies

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Idea Incubator 2

  • Deployable structures that use water to provide rigidity

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  • Use of hydraulic action to prevent buckling in bridge supports, dams

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Check out the latest issue of Zygote Quarterly:


In this issue: What Forces are at Work Here? Don Ingber and the Theory of Cell Tensegrity by Tom McKeag; a portfolio by Myoung Ho Lee; Perspectives on “Stories from the trenches” by Jamie Miller & Michael Helms; Nature, Where Art Thou? by Adelheid Fischer; a portfolio by David Goodsell; Interview with Annick Bay; and Envisioning Biomimicry Through an Ontological Lens by Colleen K. Unsworth, Thibaut Houette, Sarah J. McInerney, Austin M. Garner, and Peter H. Niewiarowski.

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