Ventilation simulation in an underground ant nest structure of Camponotus japonicus Mayr

Yang, Guanghong, Zhou, Wei, Xu, Jing, Zeng, Ming, Wu, Shengji and You, Yijun 2022. Ventilation simulation in an underground ant nest structure of Camponotus japonicus Mayr. Sustainability 14 , 16026. 10.3390/su142316026

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Abstract

Ants are ancient animals on the earth and are known as excellent architects in the animal kingdom. The structure and performance of their nests are full of remarkable mysteries. At present, there are only a limited number of studies on the ventilation performance of underground ant nest structures. In this study, the nests of Camponotus japonicus Mayr were collected manually, and a three-dimensional digital model of the ant nest structure was obtained by the method of industrial CT scanning. The ventilation performance of the Camponotus japonicus Mayr nest structure was numerically simulated using the finite element analysis software, FLUENT. By changing the air inlet and outlet of the nest, the pressure changes inside the nest and the trajectory of the air flow inside the nest could be calculated and analysed, in order to explore the ventilation characteristics of the underground nest structure during natural ventilation. It was found that the ventilation environment inside the nest was stable, and that the external air flow had little effect on the life of the ants inside the nest.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Engineering
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	MDPI
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 December 2022
Date of Acceptance:	28 November 2022
Last Modified:	15 May 2023 14:10
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/154748

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