Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness
Throughout biology, geometric hierarchy is a recurrent theme in structures where strength is achieved with efficient material usage. Acting over vast timescales, evolution has brought about beautiful solutions to problems of mechanics that are only now being understood and incorporated into engineer...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/ |
| _version_ | 1848798873722552320 |
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| author | Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel Mao, Yong Rauch, Cyril |
| author_facet | Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel Mao, Yong Rauch, Cyril |
| author_sort | Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Throughout biology, geometric hierarchy is a recurrent theme in structures where strength is achieved with efficient material usage. Acting over vast timescales, evolution has brought about beautiful solutions to problems of mechanics that are only now being understood and incorporated into engineering designs. One particular example of structural hierarchy is found in the junction between stiff keratinised material and the soft biological matter within the hooves of ungulates. Using this biological interface as a design motif, we investigate the role of hierarchy in the creation of a stiff, robust interface between two materials. We show that through hierarchical design, we can manipulate the scaling laws relating constituent material stiffness and overall interface stiffness under loading. Furthermore, we demonstrate that through use of a hierarchical geometry, we can reduce the maximum stress the materials experience for a given loading, and tailor the ratio of maximum stresses in the constituent materials. We demonstrate that when joining two materials of different stiffness hierarchical geometries are linked with beneficial mechanical properties and enhanced tailorability of mechanical response. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-53086 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:42Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-530862018-11-28T13:02:33Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/ Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel Mao, Yong Rauch, Cyril Throughout biology, geometric hierarchy is a recurrent theme in structures where strength is achieved with efficient material usage. Acting over vast timescales, evolution has brought about beautiful solutions to problems of mechanics that are only now being understood and incorporated into engineering designs. One particular example of structural hierarchy is found in the junction between stiff keratinised material and the soft biological matter within the hooves of ungulates. Using this biological interface as a design motif, we investigate the role of hierarchy in the creation of a stiff, robust interface between two materials. We show that through hierarchical design, we can manipulate the scaling laws relating constituent material stiffness and overall interface stiffness under loading. Furthermore, we demonstrate that through use of a hierarchical geometry, we can reduce the maximum stress the materials experience for a given loading, and tailor the ratio of maximum stresses in the constituent materials. We demonstrate that when joining two materials of different stiffness hierarchical geometries are linked with beneficial mechanical properties and enhanced tailorability of mechanical response. American Physical Society 2018-09-10 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/1/interface_paper_revised.pdf Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel, Mao, Yong and Rauch, Cyril (2018) Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness. Physical Review Applied, 10 (3). 034016-1-034016-10. ISSN 2331-7019 https://journals.aps.org/prapplied/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.034016 doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.034016 doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.034016 |
| spellingShingle | Rayneau-Kirkhope, Daniel Mao, Yong Rauch, Cyril Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title | Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title_full | Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title_fullStr | Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title_short | Bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| title_sort | bio-inspired hierarchical designs for stiff, strong interfaces between materials of differing stiffness |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53086/ |