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approach material scientists can follow. Also, to mimic the design strategies,
first principles calculations could be used in which the atomic components
are understood and diverse functional requirements of the components are
grasped. Following these two strategies, the authors extract some key design
motifs of natural materials. A few of illustrations are: Having architectural
control over and templating nucleation and growth as in mineralized
structures where minerals are combined with nano- scale ceramic phase in
the form of grains, platelets, fibres which help in increasing strength and flaw
tolerance. Also, biomaterials have a soft phase, which during fracture acts as
toughening mechanism. This gives the materials both high strength and
toughness. Another example is interface design. Man-made interfaces are
intended to enhance adhesion, provide stability and prevent wear, etc.
whereas biomaterials perform multiple functions. Natural materials at
microscopic level are usually complex and anisotropic. A noteworthy
technique used by nature is exemplified in biomaterials like bamboo, bone,
etc. which have a graded architecture. This is used as an optimization
technique that can be taken inspiration from. Materials with a density
gradient according to the desired properties in a coherent manner, that is,
without using assemblies or separate structures is extremely challenging.
Grossman, et. al use biomimicry with different manufacturing techniques to
form Nacre-like composites and have been successful to manufacture
materials which had unusually high performance. They utilized the Nacres
structural architecture, which is a brick-and-mortar type by structurally
controlling and orienting mineral platelets and developing nano-asperities
between them; Also modulating inter-connectivity between the platelets and
mimicking the strain hardening organic matrix of Nacre over several
experiments and iterations. Two extremely useful toughening mechanisms:
Crack bridging and crack deflection were studied in the materials and can be
used in designing other composites. Humans have tried to replicate designs
but mostly have been unsuccessful in doing so at a large scale. This is one of
the biggest challenge being faced.
Biological form/ function /shape
Structural hierarchy in biological material design natural materials exemplify
both form and function. Hierarchical architectures at various scales perform
various functions, varying from providing strength, toughness, stiffness,
shock absorption, stress distribution to transporting nutrients and water and
to making the structure lightweight. These elements on a mesoscale
combine to define a particular form at macro- scale. The natural forms are
extremely optimized. The materials on a macro-scale perform various
functions as well such as providing safety, distributing stresses, or to provide
aerodynamic or hydrophobic structures. It is evident, if synthetic materials
are made to perform multiple functions at different scales, the possibilities
would be vast. Although the authors do question whether the materials need
Swapnil Kumar
[3] Bader, C., Patrick, W., Kolb, D., Hays, S., Keating, S., Sharma, S., Dikovsky,
D., Belocon, B., Weaver, J., Silver, P., and Oxman, N., 3D PRINTING AND
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, Volume 3, Number 2, 2016, 79-89
[6] Nature shows the way, news release from EMPA's Center for Synergetic
Structures, September 23, 2011,
http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/3/112203/---/l=2