Abstract
Developments in 3D printing and CT scanning technologies have facilitated the imitation of natural wood structures. However, creating composites from the elementary features of anisotropic wood structures remains a new frontier. This paper aims to investigate the potential of constructing and 3D printing mechanically customizable composites by combining anisotropic elementary models reconstructed from the micro X-ray computed tomography (μ-CT) scanning of wood. In this study, an arbitrary region of interest selected from the μ-CT scanning of a sample of Manchurian walnut (Juglans mandshurica) was reconstructed into isosurfaces that constituted the 3D model of an elementary model. Elementary models were combined to form the wood-inspired composites in various arrangements. The surface and interior structures of the elementary model were found to be customizable through adjusting the image Threshold and Surface Quality Factors during 3D volume reconstruction. Compressional simulations and experiments performed on the elementary model (digital and 3D printed) revealed that its compressive behavior was wood-like and anisotropic. Numerical analysis established a preliminary link between the arrangements of elementary models and the compressive stiffness of respective composites, showing that it is possible to control the compressive behaviors of the composites through the design of specific elementary model arrangements.
Highlights
Natural materials are a valuable source of inspiration for the design and fabrication of high-performance synthetic materials [1]
Wood structure is primarily formed by parallel hollow tubes that are composed of wood cells
The wood sample was placed in the scanning area and scanned under protocol “45μm_24R_18min”
Summary
Natural (biological) materials are a valuable source of inspiration for the design and fabrication of high-performance synthetic materials [1]. Through research on the complex structure and extraordinary (mechanical) properties of biological materials [2,3], high-performance bio-inspired materials can be developed. Wood structure is primarily formed by parallel hollow tubes (tracheids in softwood or vessels in hardwood) that are composed of wood cells. This alignment of tracheids/vessels along the stem axis of a tree is the source of the special properties of wood [2,4,6,7]. Lightweight wood-structure-mimicking composites could not feasibly be fabricated without the use of 3D printing and the assistance of X-ray computed tomography technology [8]
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