Burrowers and borers are ecosystem engineers that alter their physical environments
through bioturbation, bioirrigation and bioerosion. The mechanisms of moving through solid …

Penetrating planetary regolith is extremely important to explore the secrets inside
extraterrestrial celestial bodies. Applying the concept and method of bionics to endow …

The behaviour of the iconic ichnogenus Chondrites is re-evaluated based on review of
existing literature and analysis of novel data (macroscopic, thin section and ESEM-EDX …

In recent years, the field of digital photoelasticity has begun to stabilise. Developments in
Photoelasticity presents, in one volume, the time-tested advancements that have brought …

Soft-bodied organisms such as annelids may exploit body compliance using their
hydrostatic skeletons and muscles to burrow in granular substrates. In this letter, we …

Traditional geotechnical engineering is challenged in terms of sustainability, resilience,
reliability and resources availability in the context of climate change and urbanization …

We quantify mechanical processes common to soil penetration by earthworms and growing
plant roots, including the energetic requirements for soil plastic displacement. The basic …

Soil penetration is an energy-intensive process that is common in both nature and civil
infrastructure applications. Many human construction activities involve soil penetration that is …

Insufficient reaction force generated by installation equipment is one of the main challenges
in soil penetration processes, which can lead to refusal conditions or pullout failures during …

Frictionally yielding media are a particular type of non-Newtonian fluids that significantly
deform under stress and do not recover their original shape. For example, mud, snow, soil …