A snake
crawling on horizontal surfaces between two parallel walls exhibits a unique
wave-like shape, which is different from the normal shape of a snake crawling
without constraints. We propose that this intriguing system is analogous to a
buckled beam under two lateral constraints. And we developed a new theoretical
model based on the beam buckling to explain qualitatively the wave-like shape
of the snake.
Junfeng Xiao, Xi Chen. Buckling
morphology of an elastic beam between two parallel lateral constraints:
implication for a snake crawling between walls.
Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 2013, 10 (85).
Crawling snakes between walls with different
width: the length of snakes are 61 +/- 4 cm; the radius of snake is 1 cm; the
width between constraints are respectively 2 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm, 5 cm, 6 cm from
top row to bottom row.