NDLI: Ant tunneling—a granular media perspective

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Espiza, D. Nicolas Santamarina, J. Carlos
Copyright Year	2010
Abstract	Laboratory and field data show that the digging habits of ants and the resulting nest architecture vary with soil conditions, yet, the geomechanical understanding of ant tunneling is lacking. We study the excavation strategies used by harvester ants in clay, silt, sand, and gravel at water contents that range from dry to saturated. The study focuses on the conditions at the tunnel face that determine particle removal methods, digging rate, the development of branches, and tunneling patterns. Analytical and numerical models provide particle-level insight into the experimental observations and help identify the causal links that relate ants digging performance and nest geometric patterns with the properties of the granular medium such as grain size, moisture, and packing density. Results highlight ants’ exceptional ability to sense the prevailing geomechanical conditions in tunnels, and to adapt excavation strategies, transport methods and tunneling patterns to those conditions, within their inherent size and strength limitations. The resulting tunnel structure emerges as a mechanically-convenient and energy-efficient topology based on local information gather by ants along the tunnel and at the tunnel face.
Starting Page	607
Ending Page	616
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISSN	14345021
Journal	Granular Matter
Volume Number	12
Issue Number	6
e-ISSN	14347636
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2010-09-10
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Ant nest Tunnel stability Digging Micromechanics Discrete element method Engineering Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Geoengineering, Foundations, Hydraulics Materials Science Engineering Fluid Dynamics Soft and Granular Matter, Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Physics and Astronomy Mechanics of Materials Materials Science

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