Experimental Investigation into Soil-Cutting Performance of the Claws of Mole Rat (Scaptochirus moschatus)

The geometrical characteristics of the fore claw toes of mole rats Scaptochirus moschatus were analyzed. It was found that the middle three toes play the major role in soil-cutting performance. So the middle three toes were selected as the prototype for designing the biomimetic specimens. The biomimetic specimens were manufactured using reverse engineering and rapid prototype technology. The scales of the second toe (one of the middle three toes) and the angle between the back side and the palm side of the second toe were taken as the main geometrical structure parameters for designing the comparative specimen. The horizontal soil-cutting tests were conducted to examine the effects of the biomimetic geometrical structure on the soil-cutting resistance. The results show that the resistance of the biomimetic specimen is 12.80% smaller than the comparative specimen, which indicates that the toe geometry has a significant effect on its soil-cutting performance. The investigation into the effect of toe arrangement suggests that the tip positions of the middle three toes in arc curve arrangement is helpful to reduce soil-cutting resistance.