| Abstract Scope |
The interfacial tissues that anchor flight feathers into wing, facilitating movement and transmission of tensile and torsional forces during flight, have lacked investigation. Taking pigeon species as a case study, physical and mechanical characterisation was carried out. Histological and Micro-CT techniques revealed structures, of elastic fibres and collagen, within a fat pad, corpus adiposum remigale secondari. These associate between the feather shaft, papilla remigalis of the ulna and smooth muscle. Tensile feather pull out testing returned an average maximum load of 21.82N (±4.539). Comparative testing was conducted on feathers located on the tail, wing and body. Nanoindentation indicated the wing tissue becoming more elastic away from the feather shaft by a decrease in Tan Delta. This study provides a novel characterisation of the interfacial tissues of flight feathers, demonstrating their important structural and mechanical role in feather attachment providing a foundation for future biomechanical investigations. |