Tianjin University 2018 ～2019 School Year Semester II

Theory course work for graduates

Course Name：The Application of Bionic Process in Urban Planning and Sustainable

Residential Building
Teacher：Paolo Vincenzo Genovese Course code：S2068034
School Name：Architecture Student’s number： 6218000029
Student’s Name：Hitesh Raj Pant 王龙 Score：86

Topic of the course:

1 Architecture and Nature

2 Biomimicry in Architecture

3 Engineered Biomimicry

Requirements:

1. Submission of research paper related with Bionics which is according to

the article format (10 pages)

Time of submission: 2019-01-15

Understanding Bionics: Ants and Termites
Hitesh Raj Pant (王龙) – 6218000029
Urban Planning

Abstract: Energy utilization and sustainability has been the key agenda for everyone around the world.
There has been great debate among various field to minimize its consumption and promote
sustainability. One of the maximum energy consumption in human world is to create the thermal
comfort zone for human inside the building. This paper tries to find the various aspect of Bionics, and
study about the ants and termites for possible solution to minimize the energy consumption through
their ways of survival.

Keywords: Bionic, thermoregulation, Thermal Comfort, Bionic functions

1. Background
The development of the developed nation is always escalating and with this growth the concept
of Sustainable development has been forwarded to minimize the consumption of fossil fuels
and energy which are the major contributor of pollution. The development of the new
technology and concept has been evolved in all the fields and various ways has also been
introduced to contribute to the human society. Webster defines Architecture as “the art or
practice of designing and building structures and especially habitable ones”. Architecture is
both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or any
other structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as
cultural symbols and as works of art. Human being have been utilizing the law of nature and
its resources to full fill the needs. One of the basic need for survival was protection from the
external extremities, one of them was by constructing houses. During the ancient time building
were done with harmony of the natural environment. But with new innovation and
technological advancement, the attachment with the nature has been lost. But architect have
been trying to break the barrier by understanding the nature. They are trying to understand the
rule of nature for various purpose, out of which one of them is to minimize the use of energy
which is costly and unsustainable. All the materials after the industrial revolution has high
energy requirement for the development but organisms who have developed their way of living
doesn’t have access to them, still nature has developed remarkable functional properties
through different phase of time.
Understanding the nature and applying it to the technical aspects such as architecture, industrial
design and materials science became the field of studies and was named as bionic. The term
“bionics” was first proposed at a forum held in Ohio, US, in 1960. Bionics, a discipline of
technical science, is the study of the structure, characteristics, principles, and behavior of
biological systems to provide new design ideas, working principles, and system compositions
as well as an interdisciplinary subject that provides new ideas, principles, and theories for
scientific and technological innovation.
Nature provides an endless storehouse of inspiration for scientists and engineers in different
fields. After billions of years of evolution, the internal structures and functions of organisms
have improved dramatically; organisms continuously adapt to their surroundings and decrease
their negative impacts on the environment.
On the basis of
initiatives to adapt to
climate and the
natural environment,
bionic buildings
achieve a harmonious
coexistence with
nature, integrate
building resource
utilization methods
into an interlinked
circulation system
with the environment,
fully use natural
ventilation and
lighting to maximize
Figure 1: Biological and engineering materials are governed by a very different choice of
the efficiency of base elements and by a different mode of fabrication. From this are resulting different
strategies for materials choice and development (under the arrow)
energy and resources,
and reduce a building's energy consumption throughout its life cycle to relieve environmental
pollution.
Many inventors have modeled machines after animals throughout the centuries. Copying from
nature has distinct advantages. Most living creatures now on the Earth are the product of two
billion years of evolution, and the construction of machines to work in
an environment resembling that of living creatures can profit from this enormous experience.
Although the easiest way may be thought to be direct imitation of nature, this is often difficult
if not impossible, among other reasons because of the difference in scale. Bionics researchers
have found that it is more advantageous to understand the principles of why things work in
nature than to slavishly copy details.
The design strategies of biological materials are not immediately applicable to the design of
new engineering materials, since there are some remarkable differences between the strategies
common in engineering and those used by nature (figure 1). Bionics has been shown in different
ways in the development of human beings, and we can therefore coexist with nature by the
development of bionics. Nature has evolved a number of strategies to create outstanding
functional properties with comparatively cheap base materials.

2. Categorization in Bionic architecture

Nature with its billions and billions years of evolution has already solved so many problems
human has been facing. Various studies have been done to understand how human can have
utilized the concept from the nature. Petra Gruber defined the main application of bionics in
building were through the functions, structures or forms and materials. Another researcher
Yang and Lo, develop categorize the bionic architecture in four different genres.
a. Patterns
Various projects have been
constructed by studying the
pattern in the nature. The
pattern they normally
follow has been inspired by
the study of plants, fish,
spider, birds and so on. For
example, the bullet train
was inspired by the king
fisher to solve the problem
of noise, similarly water
turbines were prepared Figure 3 : Humpback Whales Inspired Water Figure 3: Bullet Train Inspired by The
Turbines Kingfisher
from the inspiration of humpback whales.
b. Structure
Various structure has been inspired from the nature since the natural rule of survival of the
fittest has provided the organism chance to adapt to the changing environment. Like the column
in the building has been inspired from the trees to support the weight of the building. The study
of the cobweb has allowed human to prepare the suspended cable structure, lotus lead vein to
multi ribbed slab and so on. Similarly, Through the understanding of the organisms’ structure
and mechanism of the forms, the control of shape and structure on bionic architecture can
therefore be possible (Lebedew1983).
c. Functions:
Organism have their own function for survival. They have developed their own way of
surviving which was evolved in time. In biomimicry, the most favored approach is the transfer
of functional aspects of a design, stemming from the hypothesis that all existing natural
constructions and structures have a functional cause, and that function is the key to the
establishment of suitable analogies (Wen Y). German architect Teutonic Holst designed the
sunflower rotating house, which followed the sunlight, similarly japan developed photovoltaic
panel with similar function.

d. Materials
Materials which are abundant in the nature has been used by the various organism for their
survival. These materials have their own physical characteristics and chemical composition
which has helped them to adapt to harsh climatic conditions. Bullet proof vest came from
tenacity of cobweb; bionic lotus leave members was invented to keep away from the dust when
applying on the wall by the character of lotus leaves. (Yun Ching, 2004). Similarly, human
skin, polar bear fur and skin were studied to develop various layer of wall to create thermal
comfort zone in the building.
Researcher are trying to seek answer to various problem we are facing. There has been various
research individually as well as collectively to use various genre for different problem. Various
genre has been combined together to solve the problem faced by human. It has also help to
achieve various model for development and sustainability. There is still a long way to learn
from the nature, since we are also a part of the nature.
To study the process of the nature we should have open mind and think out of the box. We
should seek for a particular problem that we face in the human environment.
 3. Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is a process that allows your body to maintains core internal temperature.
All thermoregulation mechanism is designed to return the body to homeostasis, which is the
state of equilibrium. These thermoregulatory strategies let animals survive in different
environments.
Ants has evolved since about 100 million years ago and they still contain high diversity at the
present (Wilson & Hölldobler 2005). Ants can maintain the narrow range of relatively high
temperature within their nests and hence the ant species are regarded as the strongly
thermophilic organisms (Heinrich 1993). The increase in the temperature inside the ant nest
can dramatically change their way of living. Ant uses variety of ways to keep themselves warm.
Ant build their nest above and underground. They need a controlled temperature for their
survival. To regulate their nest at certain temperature ants has evolved plenty of strategies to
fit different environments which includes selection of different ranges of materials for building
their nest and structure of the nest.
Ants in the long term evolution, have developed many effective ways to improve their colony
fitness against natural selection. And some of their intelligent methods of thermoregulation are
expected to benefit human, especially in architecture. Some of the ways to maintain are
discussed below.
a. Materials
Ants can basically build its nest in any materials like Soil, under stones, the leaf litters and even
the living trees. Some ant species build their nests above the ground and usually, these nests
are formed by soil or organic materials. We describe these above-ground nests as ant hills or
mounds (Kadochová & Frouz 2013). The underground ant nests can easily maintain the
constant temperature due to the underground nests can keep the same temperature as the soil

Figure 5: Red imported fire ants' mound (Solenopsis invica). Figure 5: Weaver ants (Oecophylla sp.)
(Sanada-Morimura et al. 2006). The underground nests and nests in wood are called
broods. Thermoregulation process is important for regulating inner temperature of the above-
ground nests against the changing of outside temperature.
The nests’ main heat is gained from
solar radiation the different material
used for building the nests can
influence the heat maintenance
significantly. The ants that live in
soil nests tend to use the brood
translocation to process
thermoregulation (figure 4). The ants
that live in plants or use leaf litters
Figure 6: Red wood ants (Formica sp.)
use the “glue” that produced by their
own larvae to keep the constant temperature (Figure 5). Moreover, the mixture of soil with
other materials like needles and twigs are also used by some group of ants to regulate their
inner neat heat at one certain stable temperature (Figure 6).
In addition, scientists also found that the ants tend to choose the smaller materials to build up
above-ground nests overtime (Aleksiev 2007). It shows that the smaller materials chose by
ants can also give some help on maintaining the inner nest heats.
b. Architecture:
The structures and organic
materials of the nests are
continuously changed in both outer
and inner layers by the ants’
renovation (Kadochová & Frouz
2013). For maintain the stable
temperature, ventilation and
humidity control become the core
events for the nest structures. The
tunnels build by ants contain
multiple entrances, which not only
for workers to move in and out, but
also for the regulation of ventilation Figure 7:The example of mound architecture.

and humidity. The higher number

of entrances is correlated positively with the nest temperature and the nest volume has no strong
effect on nest thermoregulation (Kadochová & Frouz 2014). In the other word, Anfractuosity
tunnel networks with plenty of entrances opened and closed by ants can exchange gases and
regulate the moisture in nests effectively, and this architecture design can keep the nests stay
within the stable temperature as well (Khuong et al. 2011).
As for the implications for human society, the nest architecture design of ants seems closest for
humans. Some people regards the design of architecture from ants as the art because ants can
make their beautiful nests within darkness and every nest made by these little creatures is
unique (Walter 2015). Ants use the thermoregulation to keep the inner nest heat and moisture
stable. Learning how to use mixture of materials from ants to improve the quality of building
walls and also let the walls have function of keeping temperature constant inside without using
any electricity can be considered as one of the aspects in architecture for sustainability.

4. Thermal Comfort
Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal
environment and is assessed by subject evaluation (ANSI/ASHRAE 55). Human body try to
adjust to the changes in the temperature by heat transfer. The heat transfer is proportional to
temperature difference. Both the extreme temperature either hot or cold is not favorable to
human body. Maintaining the standard of thermal comfort for occupants inside the building by
various measures has consumed a lot of energy.
But in the natural scenario the case is different. Nature reacts differently to the external factors
for the adaptation. Nature has already developed a way where thermal comfort can be achieved.
The termite mounds and ants nest can be taken as examples where they have maintained the
temperature.
One of the way to achieve the thermal comfort naturally is to transfer the functional aspects of
a design of nature to human architecture. Architectural function is often complex in nature, and
even to try it to copy a part of it in real human scale is very hard. Nowadays, the function of
modern architecture is more than simply providing a living space, and more is required from a
building structure and function. Architectural bionic function provides a way to solve these
problems, by giving architects inspiration from various natural organism.
a. Natural ventilation technology
Architect are trying Natural ventilation technology and Passive way of ventilating commercial
building, natural. For passive energy conservation design in architecture, natural ventilation
technology has always been the key issue of great concern to the designers. Natural models
such as termite mounds and other passive ventilation systems in nature inspire innovative
building technologies, even though these are not fully understood.
Termite mounds in Africa and Australia has been one of the attraction for study for architects.
Scientist are trying to understand the way they construct high rise mound with just soil and
saliva. Another factor is the temperature inside the mound which is steady at 28 ºC, even when
the outer temperature difference is 50 ºC. The huge temperature differences between day and
night force termites to adapt to the sudden coldness by both remaining warm and keeping the
air fresh. On summer days, the termites carry wet mud from the deep soil below ground water
level to use as a cooling source. Simultaneously, fresh air enters through the lower part of the
mound and remains at the bottom to cool the mud. After absorbing the heat within the mounds,
the cooled air rises through the central space and escapes from the upper part of the mound, in
which case the mound acts like a ventilation chimney. When it becomes cold at night and the
termites need to keep warm, the soil, which has good thermal storage capacity, can provide
sufficient heat and the termites plug up all the holes on the mound's surface, except those near
the ground, to maintain ventilation. In this way, the termite adapts to the changing environment
and controls ventilation through
continuous plugging up or opening of
the surface and ground vents. This
exquisite structure and regulation
system greatly enhances the termites’
control of internal ventilation,
guaranteeing a sufficient supply of
oxygen, and providing warmth and heat
insulation, which makes the mound a
virtual air conditioning tower. Figure 8: Thermosiphon flow thought to occur in capped chimney
mounds; Right. Induced flow thought to occur in open-chimney
With this concept architect mick Pearce mounds.

imitated the mechanism of heat

acclimation in Eastgate Center Building in Zimbabwe’s Capital.
 b. Building wall materials
Materials bionics refers to the physical characteristics and chemical composition of biological
materials. By studying and imitating the organization and ecological functions of an organism’s
body biological materials science aims to design and produce green building materials that can
reduce consumption of energy. Life cycle perspective and analysis play an important role in
resources and energy conservation and protection of the environment.
To create the most important function of a building by human beings is to provide thermally
comfortable spaces for the users. Therefore, a great deal of artificial energy is consumed for
heating to fulfil thermal requirements. In order to achieve thermal comfort and reduce heating
energy consumption at the same time, building parameters affecting indoor climate should be
determined properly during the design stage. Building form and building envelope are the most
important parameters affecting indoor climate. Building form is an important determinant of
total heat loss through the whole building envelope in cold climates. Mike Davies proposed the
idea that all elements of silica material could be integrated into a glass wall, including the cortex,
stoma, sensor and control layer, photoelectric conversion layer, heat radiating layer and so.
At present, transparent insulated wall (TIW), double glass curtain walls and Trombe wall are
the third layer of human skin that are obtained by mimicking the building wall materials
modeled on the characteristics of the skin. Using the bionic building wall materials makes the
building envelope breathe together with nature, this ecological building envelope can use solar
energy for efficient heating and ventilation, and well solve the problem of the integration of
solar energy utilization and building design.
 5. Conclusion
With the ability to reason and create, human are considered itself superior to other creatures.
Human learn from nature to constantly enrich theory materials while getting closer to nature.
Form bionic design humans are constantly creating more pleasant and satisfactory lifestyle and
also achieve harmony between human and the nature.
Bionics is a limit which acquires and applies knowledge about living organism and their
structures and functioning in the development of new technologies. In the last 50 years’
architecture has been influenced by bionics. Even though this is relatively young
interdisciplinary science which was primarily a product of qualitatively new development in
biology, it has already been seen as a solution for most of the human problems. People have
always observed the nature that surrounded them and have been inspired from them. Imitation
of natural structures can be found and construction much earlier than bionics emerged as a
science discipline.
With the combination of functionality and materials from the nature we can minimize the
energy consumption for indoor. Even if we can manage to minimize certain percentage of
energy consumption it will create a big impact in the sustainability aspect.
Application of the laws of nature and inspiration by the living forms in civil engineering,
architecture and technology as such proved itself to be fully justified. So finally we can
confidently conclude that the future of technology will be learned from the nature.
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