Abstract
The continuous increase in population and human migration to urban and coastal areas leads to the expansion of built environments over natural habitats. Current infrastructure suffers from environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem services. Foundations are static anchoring structures dependent on soil compaction, which reduces water infiltration and increases flooding. Coastal infrastructure reduces wave action and landward erosion but alters natural habitat and sediment transport. On the other hand, root systems are multifunctional, resilient, biological structures that offer promising strategies for the design of civil and coastal infrastructure, such as adaptivity, multifunctionality, self-healing, mechanical and chemical soil attachment. Therefore, the biomimetic methodology is employed to abstract root strategies of interest for the design of building foundations and coastal infrastructures that prevent soil erosion, anchor structures, penetrate soils, and provide natural habitat. The strategies are described in a literature review on root biology, then these principles are abstracted from their biological context to show their potential for engineering transfer. After a review of current and developing technologies in both application fields, the abstracted strategies are translated into conceptual designs for foundation and coastal engineering. In addition to presenting the potential of root-inspired designs for both fields, this paper also showcases the main steps of the biomimetic methodology from the study of a biological system to the development of conceptual technical designs. In this way the paper also contributes to the development of a more strategic intersection between biology and engineering and provides a framework for further research and development projects.
Highlights
40% of the global population lives in cities and by 2050, this number will increase to 66% (Li, 2018). 40% of the global population and 75% of the world’s megacities are within 100 km of a coastline and this percentage is expected to increase (Mayer-Pinto et al, 2019)
We propose that the overarching design framework of biologically inspired design (BID), hereinafter referred to as bioinspired design, can inform the development of sustainable, multifunctional, and adaptive innovations to built infrastructure
To demonstrate the hypothesis that the study of root systems informs multiple engineering design applications through the overarching design lens of bioinspired design, we present an overview of relevant root biology in “Roots as Biological Model” section, with a special focus on adaptation and biomechanics
Summary
40% of the global population lives in cities and by 2050, this number will increase to 66% (Li, 2018). 40% of the global population and 75% of the world’s megacities are within 100 km of a coastline and this percentage is expected to increase (Mayer-Pinto et al, 2019). Rather than a comprehensive encyclopedia this section provides a general overview of root biology and an understanding of strategies and mechanisms found in root systems for mechanical anchorage, soil stability, and other dynamic external loading conditions relevant for biomimetic translation to the two application spaces of building foundation and coastal infrastructure design. According to Ennos (2000), it is far less likely that root hairs are useful in the anchorage of mature plants, since root hairs are only produced near the tip of elongating roots in the maturation zone where mechanical stresses are relatively low for large mature plants In this case, the major mechanical role of root hairs is in root tip growth, as root hairs anchor the root while the tip is pushed forward through the soil (Stolzy and Barley, 1968; Ennos, 2000; Bengough et al, 2011). The position of logs within a stream channel, wood density, and decay rates as a function of tree species and TABLE 1 | Analogy table (“Abstraction and Analogy” section)
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