Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
J R Soc Interface. 2013 Jun 5;10(85):20130399. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0399. Print 2013 Aug 6.
A snake crawling on horizontal surfaces between two parallel walls exhibits a unique wave-like shape, which is different from the normal shape of a snake crawling without constraints. We propose that this intriguing system is analogous to a buckled beam under two lateral constraints. A new theoretical model of beam buckling, which is verified by numerical simulation, is firstly developed to account for the special boundary conditions. Under this theoretical model, the effect of geometrical parameters on the deformation shape, such as the distance between walls, length of the snake and radius of the snake, is examined. The buckling beam model is then applied to explain qualitatively the wave-like shape of the snake.
蛇在两个平行墙壁之间的水平表面上爬行时会呈现出一种独特的波浪形，与没有约束的蛇正常爬行的形状不同。我们提出，这个引人入胜的系统类似于在两个横向约束下的屈曲梁。我们首先提出了一个新的梁屈曲理论模型，通过数值模拟进行了验证，以考虑特殊的边界条件。在这个理论模型下，研究了几何参数对变形形状的影响，如墙壁之间的距离、蛇的长度和蛇的半径。然后，将屈曲梁模型应用于定性解释蛇的波浪形。
