PHONON PROPAGATION IN BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AND IMPLICATIONS ON PHONONIC TUNABILITY OF SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
Abstract
Evolution continues to be a source of inspiration for the creation of novel engineered materials and systems. Among the many remarkable naturally-evolved features present in natural materials is the ability to withstand dynamic loads through suppression or redirection of stress waves that could be potentially deleterious. This elicits the idea that biomaterials are endowed with the capacity to effectively affect and exploit the propagation of mechanical waves via tailored phononic mechanisms. Interestingly, despite their ubiquity and role in intra- and inter-species interactions (e.g., predation, dominance assertion, food procurement) the study of dynamic properties of biological materials remain vastly overlooked, with the majority of efforts still devoted to quasi-static phenomena. Seeking to address this intellectual void and inspired by recent literature reports on phononic bandgaps in biomaterials, we seek to investigate the phononic properties of helicoidal and brick and mortar motifs. The objective of the present proposal is to elucidate both the existence of complex wave-matter phenomena and the role of microstructural (architecture, phases, interfaces) and material (viscoelasticity, hydration effects) features through a combination of experimental (photoacoustic, nanoDMA) and computational modelling approaches (Bloch, FEA). Understanding of the underlying physics will constitute a platform for translation and integration of learned concepts into synthetic composites exhibiting phononic tunability within a broadened environmental range, as encountered in engineering applications. While the proposed effort is inherently basic research, posing fundamental questions into phononic physics, dynamic behavior of materials and even evolutionary biology, the ubiquity and significance of waves in engineering applications make this proposal highly relevant to the DOD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010258
Entities
People
- Horacio D Espinosa
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Northwestern University
- United States Air Force