Hierarchically Enhanced Impact Resistance of Bioinspired Composites
Abstract
An order of magnitude tougher than nacre, conch shells are known for being one of the toughest body armors in nature. However, the complexity of the conch shell architecture creates a barrier to emulating its cross‐lamellar structure in synthetic materials. Here, a 3D biomimetic conch shell prototype is presented, which can replicate the crack arresting mechanisms embedded in the natural architecture. Through an integrated approach combining simulation, additive manufacturing, and drop tower testing, the function of hierarchy in conch shell's multiscale microarchitectures is explicated. The results show that adding the second level of cross‐lamellar hierarchy can boost impact performance by 70% and 85% compared to a single‐level hierarchy and the stiff constituent, respectively. The overarching mechanism responsible for the impact resistance of conch shell is the generation of pathways for crack deviation, which can be generalized to the design of future protective apparatus such as helmets and body armor.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 26, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1002/adma.201700060
Entities
People
- Grace X Gu
- Mahdi Takaffoli
- Markus J. Buehler
Organizations
- Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Office of Naval Research