The structure and design of the Kingfisher’s beak led to the design of the bullet trains. Explain
Answer:-
The kingfishers have long, dagger-like bills. The bill is usually longer and more compressed in species that hunt fish, and shorter and broader in species. The kingfisher is a bird that dives into water to catch its prey. It has a long, narrow pointed beak that allows it to enter the water while barely making a splash. The beak steadily increases in diameter from the tip to the head, which helps reduce impact when the bird hits the water. The structure and design of the Kingfisher’s beak led to the design of the bullet trains.
The Strategy: The secret is in the shape of the kingfisher’s beak. A long and narrow cone, the kingfisher’s beak parts and enters the water without creating a compression wave below the surface or a noisy splash above. The fine point of the conical beak presents little surface area or resistance to the water upon entry, and the evenly and gradually enlarging cross-section of the beak keeps fluid flowing smoothly around it as it penetrates further into the water column.
This buys the bird crucial milliseconds to reach the fish before the fish knows to flee. The length of the beak is critical here: the longer it is, the more gradually the angle of the wedge expands. A shorter, fatter, or rounder beak would increase the wedge angle, resulting in a splash, a compression wave, and a fleeing fish.
The Potential: Eiji Nakatsu, the chief engineer of the company operating Japan’s fastest trains, wondered if the kingfisher’s beak might serve as a model for how to redesign trains not to create such a thunderous noise when leaving tunnels and breaking through the barrier of tunnel air and outside-air. Sure enough, as his team tested different shapes for the front of the new train, the train became quieter and more efficient as the geometry of its nose became more like the shape of a kingfisher’s beak, requiring 15% less energy while traveling even faster than before.
The engineers looked to nature to re-design the bullet train. They noticed how kingfisher birds are able to slice through the air and dive into the water to catch prey while barely making a splash. They then re-designed the front end of the train to mimic the shape of the kingfisher’s beak. Not only did this help to reduce noise and eliminate tunnel booms, it also allowed the train to travel 10% faster using 15% less electricity.