Kursuse teave

This course gives an overview of the main topics in biomechanics covering the following themes:

Soft tissue biomechanics: elasticity and viscoelasticity mechanical properties of various biological tissues.

Muscle biomechanics: muscle anatomy, muscle’s working principles, muscle’s force  and power, muscle work, Hills’ model, heat skeletal and smooth muscles

Muscle architectures: functional arrangement of muscles, muscles work loops, twitch and tonic fibers, bones, ligaments and tendons, skeletons, bones and muscles as mechanical systems.

Terrestrial locomotion: limb mechanical advantage, force and impulse of legged locomotion, gaits, Foude and Strouhal number, mechanical work of legged locomotion, energy conservation and dissipation, modeling walking and running, mechanics of jumping.

Locomotion in water: basic principles of fluid dynamics, forces acting on a swimming body, biological propulsion mechanisms, undulatory swimming, swimming in unsteady flows.

Locomotion in air: basic principles of aerodynamics, lift and circulation, lift-producing hydrofoils, wing loading, drag, gliding, soaring and flapping flight, flight musculature.

Energetics of locomotion: net cost of transport, aerobic and anaerobic locomotion, energetics of gaits, comparison of energetic of legged locomotion, swimming and flying.

Mechanics of circulatory systems: physical principles of flows in pipes, physics of capillary flows, mechanical properties of blood, pulsation.

 

The course consists of:

Theoretical part, covering the mechanical principles of the related topics (20%)

QUIZis, theoretical and practical exercises (30%)

Independent work – preparation of a report and presentation on a selected topic (25%)

Laboratory exercises (25%)

 

The participants of the course are expected to have background in physics on the level of university B.S. curricula and basic computer skills (installing and using software).