Journal of Materials Science

, Volume 53, Issue 5, pp 3189–3197 | Cite as

Mechanical properties of bio-mimetic energy-absorbing materials under impact loading

Biomaterials
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:
  • 339 Downloads

Abstract

The elytra can protect the body and hind wings of the beetle by absorbing the impact energy and resisting damage from outside loading. In this paper, we firstly observed the microstructures of hollow column and pole canal in the ladybird beetle elytra and revealed the relationship between them. A bionic energy-absorbing structure inspired by ladybird beetle elytra was proposed, and a micron-scale finite element model was built. The mechanical characteristics of bionic structures with and without poles under axial impact loading were investigated by numerical simulations. It could be obtained that the poles could absorb the impact energy by its deformation. Then the parameter studies including the different impact velocities, the different column diameters, and the different thickness of cuticle were carried out. This parameter study shows that geometric variations and impact velocity have a significant influence on mechanical properties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from China Scholarship Council.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

  1. 1.
    Naleway SE, Porter MM, McKittrick J, Meyers MA (2015) Structural design elements in biological materials: application to bioinspiration. Adv Mater 27:5455–5476CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Naleway SE, Taylor JRA, Porter MM, Meyers MA, McKittrick J (2016) Structure and mechanical properties of selected protective systems in marine organisms. Mater Sci Eng, C 59:1143–1167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Xiang J, Du J, Li D, Liu K (2016) Aerodynamic performance of the locust wing in gliding mode at low Reynolds number. J Bionic Eng 13:249–260CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Chen J, Xu M, Okabe Y, Guo Z, Yu X (2017) Structural characteristics of the core layer and biomimetic model of the ladybug forewing. Micron 101:156–161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    Guo C, Li D, Lu Z, Zhu C, Dai Z (2014) Mechanical properties of a novel, lightweight structure inspired by beetle’s elytra. Chin Sci Bull 59:3341–3347CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    Guo C, Song W, Dai Z (2012) Structural design inspired by beetle elytra and its mechanical properties. Chin Sci Bull 57:941–947CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Xiang J, Du J (2017) Energy absorption characteristics of bio-inspired honeycomb structure under axial impact loading. Mater Sci Eng, A 696:283–289CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Chen J, Wu G (2013) Beetle forewings: epitome of the optimal design for lightweight composite materials. Carbohyd Polym 91:659–665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Xiang J, Du J, Li D, Zhen C (2016) Functional morphology and structural characteristics of wings of the ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata (L.). Microsc Res Tech 79:550–556CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Chen J, He C, Gu C, Liu J, Mi C, Guo S (2014) Compressive and flexural properties of biomimetic integrated honeycomb plates. Mater Des 64:214–220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Chen J, Xie J, Zhu H, Guan S, Wu G, Noori MN, Guo S (2012) Integrated honeycomb structure of a beetle forewing and its imitation. Mater Sci Eng, C 32:613–618CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Chen J, Gu C, Guo S, Wan C, Wang X, Xie J, Hu X (2012) Integrated honeycomb technology motivated by the structure of beetle forewings. Mater Sci Eng, C 32:1813–1817CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Chen J, Zhang X, Okabe Y, Saito K, Guo Z, Pan L (2017) The deformation mode and strengthening mechanism of compression in the beetle elytron plate. Mater Des 131:481–486CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Zhang X, Xie J, Chen J, Okabe Y, Pan L, Xu M (2017) The beetle elytron plate: a lightweight, high-strength and buffering functional-structural bionic material. Sci Rep 7:4440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    Dai Z, Yang Z (2010) Macro-/micro-structures of elytra, mechanical properties of the biomaterial and the coupling strength between elytra in beetles. J Bionic Eng 7:6–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Dokukin ME, Guz NV, Sokolov I (2011) Towards nano-physiology of insects with atomic force microscopy. J Insect Physiol 57:260–264CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Jalali SK, Heshmati M (2016) Buckling analysis of circular sandwich plates with tapered cores and functionally graded carbon nanotubes-reinforced composite face sheets. Thin Wall Struct 100:14–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Boukharouba W, Bezazi A, Scarpa F (2014) Identification and prediction of cyclic fatigue behaviour in sandwich panels. Measurement 53:161–170CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Tasdemirci A, Kara A, Turan K, Sahin S (2015) Dynamic crushing and energy absorption of sandwich structures with combined geometry shell cores. Thin Wall Struct 91:116–128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    Bin H, Bo Y, Yu X, Chang-Qing C, Qian-Cheng Z, Tian Jian L (2015) Foam filling radically enhances transverse shear response of corrugated sandwich plates. Mater Des 77:132–141CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    Baroutaji A, Gilchrist MD, Smyth D, Olabi AG (2015) Analysis and optimization of sandwich tubes energy absorbers under lateral loading. Int J Impact Eng 82:74–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Djamaluddin F, Abdullah S, Ariffin AK, Nopiah ZM (2015) Non-linear finite element analysis of bitubal circular tubes for progressive and bending collapses. Int J Mech Sci 99:228–236CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    Meguid SA, Yang F, Verberne P (2015) Progressive collapse of foam-filled conical frustum using kinematically admissible mechanism. Int J Impact Eng 82:25–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. 24.
    Ehinger D, Krüger L, Martin U, Weigelt C, Aneziris CG (2015) Buckling and crush resistance of high-density TRIP-steel and TRIP-matrix composite honeycombs to out-of-plane compressive load. Int J Solids Struct 66:207–217CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    Neville RM, Scarpa F, Pirrera A (2016) Shape morphing Kirigami mechanical metamaterials. Sci Rep 6:31067CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    Zhang D, Scarpa F, Ma Y, Boba K, Hong J, Lu H (2013) Compression mechanics of nickel-based superalloy metal rubber. Mater Sci Eng, A 580:305–312CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. 27.
    Zhang X, Chen J, Okaba Y, Xie J, Zhang Z (2017) Compression properties of metal beetle elytron plates and the elementary unit of the trabecular-honeycomb core structure. J Sandw Struct Mater.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1099636217722823 Google Scholar
  28. 28.
    Zhang X, Chen J, Okaba Y, Zhang P, Xiong X, Yu X (2017) Influence of honeycomb dimensions and forming methods on the compressive properties of beetle elytron plates. J Sandw Struct Mater.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1099636217731993 Google Scholar
  29. 29.
    Tuo W, Wei P, Chen J, Okabe Y, Zhang X, Xu M (2017) Experimental study of the edgewise compressive mechanical properties of biomimetic fully integrated honeycomb plates. J Sandw Struct Mater.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1099636217722334 Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Mechanical EngineeringTianjin UniversityTianjinChina
  2. 2.School of Aeronautic EngineeringCivil Aviation University of ChinaTianjinChina
  3. 3.School of Aeronautic Science and EngineeringBeijing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsBeijingChina

Personalised recommendations