Stability of a void structure in wet granular layer and its application to crab burrow strength

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13861
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biological physics/Chemical physics/Soft matter physics
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Katsuragi Hiroaki 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 准教授 (30346853)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 藤原 慎一 名古屋大学, 博物館, 講師 (30571236)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 粉体物理 / 巣穴 / 生態

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Ghost crabs make cm-scale-diameter burrows on appropriately wet sandy substrate. Physically, such a sandy substrate can be regarded as wet granular matter. Thus, the size and distribution of crab burrows might be governed by the stability of a void structure in wet granular layer. In this study, we performed the experiment and field work to quantitatively reveal the relation among the mechanical properties of tunnel structure in wet granular layer , spatial distribution of crab burrows, and their size distribution. From the obtained results, we found that the actual crab burrows are sufficiently stable in terms of wet granular mechanics.

Free Research Field

ソフトマター物理