Pliant Pipes
Steven Vogel · 1992
Abstract In most communication systems the least interesting components are the actual conduits. If you wire up a house, the main decision about the wires concerns their gauges, which you pick to handle the maxi mum current anticipated. The circulatory equivalent of that decision was touched upon when we talked about pipe diameters and Murray’s law. In most electronic circuits, the physical layout of the wires is a trivial matter, chosen mainly for convenience of assembly. Only what’s attached to the ends of those wires and the operation of those active components matters. In a plumbing system unnecessarily long conduits and sharp corners ought to be avoided since fluids have viscosity even if electrical currents don’t. But besides gauge and route, what’s left to worry the designer? In the design of the pipes of a circulatory system, as we’ll see, quite a lot. As we’ll also see, the details of their mechanical properties are exquisitely attuned to the various tasks they perform. To heighten interest in the story, these other features reflect some really subtle problems associated with nature’s general use of nonrigid materials.