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 (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.
Energy and Resources Research Institute, School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9JT, UK.
Novid
N
Beheshti
Andy C
AC
Mcintosh
D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods*; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D013227:Steam
D013227:Steam