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First published online April 26, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 1677-1686 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01487

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Review article: Circulation and body size

The constructal law of organization in nature: tree-shaped flows and body size

Adrian Bejan

Duke University, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Durham, NC 27708-0300, USA

e-mail: dalford{at}duke.edu

Accepted 30 December 2004

Summary

The constructal law is the statement that for a flow system to persist in time it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier access to its currents. This is the law of configuration generation, or the law of design. The theoretical developments reviewed in this article show that this law accounts for (i) architectures that maximize flow access (e.g. trees), (ii) features that impede flow (e.g. impermeable walls, insulation) and (iii) static organs that support flow structures. The proportionality between body heat loss and body size raised to the power 3/4 is deduced from the discovery that the counterflow of two trees is the optimal configuration for achieving (i) and (ii) simultaneously: maximum fluid-flow access and minimum heat leak. Other allometric examples deduced from the constructal law are the flying speeds of insects, birds and aeroplanes, the porosity and hair strand diameter of the fur coats of animals, and the existence of optimal organ sizes. Body size and configuration are intrinsic parts of the deduced configuration. They are results, not assumptions. The constructal law extends physics (thermodynamics) to cover the configuration, performance, global size and global internal flow volume of flow systems. The time evolution of such configurations can be described as survival by increasing performance, compactness and territory.

Key words: constructal law, tree, dendritic, body size, body heat, hair, fur, flight, allometric laws, organ size

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