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Growth Ring-dependent Fracture Toughness of Sea Urchin Spines Estimated by Boundary Effect Model

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Abstract

Although the fracture behavior of sea urchin spines has been extensively investigated, there is as yet a lack of quantitative estimation on the effect of growth rings on the fracture properties of sea urchin spines. In sea urchin spines, much denser pores present in growth rings rather than porous layers. The tensile strength and fracture toughness of sea urchin spine samples with different numbers of growth rings are measured by the Boundary Effect Model (BEM). The experimental results of single-edge notched three-point bending tests indicate that the BEM is an appropriate method to estimate the fracture toughness of the present porous sea urchin spines, and the number of growth rings plays an important role in the fracture properties of spines. Specifically, the tensile strength and fracture toughness of sea urchin spines can be significantly improved with the increase in the number of growth rings, and their fracture toughness can even reach a relatively high value compared with some other porous materials with an identical porosity. The present research findings are expected to provide a fundamental insight into the design of high-performance bionic materials with a highly porous structure.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 51902043], and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Grant No. N2102007, and N2102002]. This work was also partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Nos. 51871048 and 52171108].

Funding

This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51902043, 51871048, 52171108); Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant no. N2102007, N2102002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, School of Material Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Xiaona Liu, Simin Liang, Yingying Li, Hongmei Ji & Xiaowu Li

  2. Key Laboratory for Anistropy and Texture of Materials, Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Xiaona Liu, Simin Liang, Yingying Li & Hongmei Ji

  3. State key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Xiaowu Li

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  1. Xiaona Liu
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Correspondence to Hongmei Ji or Xiaowu Li.

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Liu, X., Liang, S., Li, Y. et al. Growth Ring-dependent Fracture Toughness of Sea Urchin Spines Estimated by Boundary Effect Model. J Bionic Eng 19, 1472–1480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-022-00200-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-022-00200-5

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