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A Preliminary Study on the Flexural Behavior of Nacre-Inspired Cementitious Materials

  • Interactions between Biomaterials and Biological Tissues and Cells
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Abstract

There exist numerous instances of natural materials with hierarchical and layered microstructures having superior mechanical and functional properties. An example of such a material is nacre, which is a tough natural composite found in the inner part of many seashells. This preliminary study aimed to obtain an understanding of the flexural strength and ductility of bio-inspired cementitious samples inspired by the techniques that nacre uses. In this work, we fabricated and tested samples that contain polymeric layers sandwiched between cementitious layers, mimicking the layering of aragonite tablets and proteins found in nacre. Results of this preliminary study show that using the layering feature found in nacre can improve the flexural strength of mortar samples. In addition, increased ductility was observed in the nacre-inspired samples compared with control samples due to crack deflection and layers sliding. Finite element analysis was performed to probe the effect of geometries and mechanical properties on the flexural behavior of nacre-inspired cementitious beams.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding support from Taif University Researchers Supporting Project Number (TURSP-2020/204), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia, and support from Sun Yat-Sen University, Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Vermont and Vermont Technical College.

Funding

This research was funded by Taif University Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/204), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia, and support from Sun Yat-Sen University, Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Vermont, and Vermont Technical College.

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Author notes

  1. Meshari Alsharif and Fen Du have contributed equally to the work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia

    Meshari Alsharif, Sami Althobaiti, Mohammed Alahmari, Hashem Alattas, Abdulrahman Aljahani & Saleh Alghamdi

  2. School of Industrial Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai, 519088, Guangdong, China

    Fen Du

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, Randolph, VT, 05061, USA

    Fen Du

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    Ting Tan

  5. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Ting Tan

Authors
  1. Meshari Alsharif
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  2. Fen Du
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  3. Sami Althobaiti
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  4. Mohammed Alahmari
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  5. Hashem Alattas
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  6. Abdulrahman Aljahani
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  7. Ting Tan
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  8. Saleh Alghamdi
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Correspondence to Ting Tan or Saleh Alghamdi.

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Alsharif, M., Du, F., Althobaiti, S. et al. A Preliminary Study on the Flexural Behavior of Nacre-Inspired Cementitious Materials. JOM 74, 3445–3453 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-022-05348-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-022-05348-3

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