Inspired by the fact that nature provides multifunctional composites by using universal building blocks, the authors design and test synthetic composites with a pattern inspired by the microstructure of cortical bone. Using a high-resolution multimaterial 3D printer, the authors are able to manufacture samples and investigate their fracture behavior in mechanical tests. The authors' results demonstrate that the bone-inspired design is critical for toughness amplification and balance with material strength. The failure modes of the authors' synthetic composites show similarities with the cortical bone, like crack deflection and branching, constrained microcracking, and fibril bridging. The authors' results confirm that our design is eligible to reproduce the fracture and toughening mechanism of bone.
In the quest of increasing safety and efficiency in structural applications, by designing and manufacturing new strong and tough composite materials, learning from the design of natural materials can be a promising strategy. Nature has evolved for billions of years to develop elaborate architectures and sophisticated strategies, based on mechano-biological mechanisms, to achieve optimally adapted material solutions. A brief review of exemplar naturally occurring materials is provided, here, with a focus on their multiscale structures and the mechanisms governing their mechanical properties. The design motifs, common to biological structural materials, and the mechanisms underlying their characteristics are summarized, with a highlight on the structureproperty relationship. A review of recent advancement in the manufacturing of bio-inspired composite materials, mainly inspired by bone, nacre, and teeth, is provided, followed by recent and successful case studies. In this paper, the main focus is on nacre and bone-inspired structural materials, aimed at mimicking the mechanical behavior. Finally, a critical discussion is provided, highlighting the limitations of the current innovative techniques and materials, and prospecting the future challenges for the design and development of de novo materials and manufacturing processes for real engineering applications.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.