Design of a bionic aviation material based on the microstructure of beetle’s elytra

Abstract

Because almost all adult insects can fly, their cuticles must have a low mass and high efficiency that is enabled by a delicate and complicated micro-/nanostructure. These structures provide useful bionic design templates for new, advanced composite materials. We implemented this idea in the present research to design bionic aviation materials. Here, we propose a bionic columnar and laminate (BCL) model for aircraft skin. For a comparative study, equal-quality (EQ) and equal-thickness (ET) models were established. Mechanics, heat transfer, and thermal-structure coupling analyses and optimization designs for these models were performed using ANSYS Workbench. The mechanical analysis included compression, shear and three-point bending studies. The heat transfer analysis included two types of working conditions, cruising and landing, and optimization parameters for the material design were determined: the extension length of the columnar structure was 6.26mm, the chamfer radius was 3.08mm, the number of columnar structures was 6, and the diameter of the columnar structures was 17.90mm. The results of this research will provide guidance for developing advanced bionic composite aviation materials.