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Torquigener albomaculosus, also known as the white-spotted pufferfish, is known for creating circular nests in the underwater sand as part of the mating ritual. The nests are built by the males to attract females through the nest's impressive design and related ability to gather fine sand particles. As the fluid-dynamic processes associated with these unique nests are still almost completely unknown, in the present study, an analysis has been conducted to investigate how the geometric parameters related to the nest design influence the fluid velocity in its center. For this reason, a geometric model of the nest consisting of 24 channels, where each unit channel can be described by three strips of broken lines, has been introduced, and a multivariate analysis has been implemented to determine the relative weight of each considered parameter. In particular, the "optimal" combination of parameters has been obtained by means of an orthogonal design approach. We show that these bio-nest structures also display a potential for significant application in marine litter collection, or for use as a buffer against the waves in offshore areas.

This paper theoretically introduced the feasibility of changing the vibration characteristics of flexible plates by using bio-inspired, extremely light, and powerful Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) actuators. Many structural plates or shells are typically flexible and show high vibration sensitivity. For this reason, this paper provides a way to achieve active vibration control for suppressing the oscillations of these structures to meet strict stability, safety, and comfort requirements. The dynamic behaviors of the designed plates are modeled by using the finite element (FE) method. As is known, the output force vs. contraction curve of PAM is nonlinear generally. In this present finite element model, the maximum forces provided by PAM in different air pressure are adopted as controlling forces for applying for the plate. The non-linearity between the output force and displacement of PAM is avoided in this study. The dynamic behaviors of plates with several independent groups of controlling forces are observed and studied. The results show that the natural frequencies of the plate can be varying and the max amplitude decreases significantly if the controlling forces are applied. The present work also demonstrates the potential of the PAM actuators as valid means for damping out the vibration of flexible systems.

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