Mechanical Properties Of Natural Materials Research Articles

Simultaneous improvements in strength, stiffness, and toughness of bio-inspired hierarchical topological interlocking geometry

Structural hierarchy plays an important role in the mechanical properties of natural materials. In this work, the concept of hierarchy was applied to topological interlocking assemblies to integrate different toughening strategies of multiple biologicals. Multi-material additive manufacturing was adopted to fabricate the bio-inspired interlocking structures comprised of discrete hard building blocks and soft intricate interfaces. An approach combining finite element simulation with direct mechanical testing on 3D-printed samples was conducted to investigate the mechanical consequences of these samples. It was found that the introduction of hierarchical surface design enabled the original interlocking assemblies to own additional interlocking effects at a smaller length scale, resulting in increased strength, stiffness, and toughness by 42.4%, 31.2%, and 83.8%, respectively.

Mechanical Behavior of Bamboo-Like Structures under Transversal Compressive Loading.

Inspired by many biological structures in nature, biomimetic structures demonstrate significantly better mechanical performance than traditional engineering structures. The exceptional mechanical properties of natural materials are attributed to the hierarchical architecture of their structure. Consequently, the implementation of biomimetic structures in the design of lightweight structures with tailored mechanical properties has been constantly increasing in many fields of science and engineering. The bamboo structure is of particular interest because it combines a light weight and excellent mechanical properties, often surpassing those of several engineering materials. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mechanical behavior of bamboo-inspired structures subjected to transversal compressive loading. Structures consisting of bamboo-like thin-walled hexagonal building blocks (unit cells) with different dimensions were fabricated by stereolithography 3D printing and their mechanical performance was evaluated by mechanical testing, high-speed camera video recordings, and finite element simulations. The results of the elastic modulus, yield strength, and strain energy density at fracture were interpreted in terms of characteristic dimensions of the unit cell structure. The failure process was elucidated in the light of images of the fractured structures and simulation strain maps. The results of this study demonstrate that ultralight bamboo-like structures with specific mechanical characteristics can be produced by optimizing the dimensions and number density of the hexagonal unit cell.

Investigating the Effect of Smoke Treatment on Hygroscopic Characteristics of Bamboo by FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy.

Treatment modification to improve the durability of bamboo against biotic and abiotic factors often results in adverse effects to its mechanical properties due to changes in hygroscopic characteristics. This study aims at exploring in more detail, the effect of treatment modification, in particular smoke treatment, on the hygroscopic nature of bamboo. In the first part of this study, changes to its chemical structure were investigated by Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques. From Raman analysis, specific bands attributed to lignin component in bamboo, namely at 1600 cm−1 and 1632 cm−1, which varied in intensities among treated and untreated specimens, could be considered to assess the extent of treatment modification. Besides, FTIR results showed that the chemical constituents of bamboo inner and outermost surfaces vary extensively with distinctive changes during treatment modification. The steam component in smoke treatment is assumed to cause a slight increase in the moisture content in the outermost surface of smoked bamboo as evidenced by FTIR results. In addition, the hydrophobic surface of smoked bamboo, which was affected during smoke treatment modification due to superior mean roughness parameter in its outermost surface, impacted its water-repelling ability. From FTIR results, an increase in lignin in bamboo was confirmed at peak 1114 cm−1, which occurred as a result of thermal effect above a temperature of 100 °C leading to poly-condensation reactions. The increase in lignin is assumed to cause an overall increase in hardness of smoked bamboo which was found to be two-fold higher when compared with the untreated ones. The approach of this research investigation, which has shown the benefit of using spectroscopic techniques to monitor and understand the changes in the hygroscopic nature of bamboo surfaces, can likewise be considered to predict the corresponding effects of treatment modification or degradation on the mechanical properties of natural materials.

Tailoring plasticity mechanisms in compositionally graded hierarchical steels fabricated using additive manufacturing

While there exists in nature abundant examples of materials with site-specific gradients in microstructures and properties, engineers and designers have traditionally used monolithic materials with discrete properties. Now, however, additive manufacturing (AM) offers the possibility of creating structures that mimic some aspects of nature. One example that has attracted attention in the recent years is the hierarchical structure in bamboo. The hierarchical architecture in bamboo is characterized by spatial gradients in properties and microstructures and is well suited to accommodate and survive complex stress states, severe mechanical forces, and large deformations. While AM has been used routinely to fabricate functionally graded materials, this study distinguishes itself by leveraging AM and physical metallurgy concepts to trigger cascading deformation in a single sample. Specifically, we have been successful in using AM to fabricate steel with unique spatial hierarchies in structure and property to emulate the structure and deformation mechanisms in natural materials. This study shows an improvement in the strength and ductility of the nature-inspired “hierarchical steel” compared with conventional cast stainless steels. In situ characterization proves that this improvement is due to the sequential activation of multiple deformation mechanisms namely twinning, transformation-induced plasticity, and dislocation-based plasticity. While significantly higher strengths can be achieved by refining the chemical and processing technique, this study sets the stage to achieve the paradigm of using AM to fabricate structures which emulate the flexibility in mechanical properties of natural materials and are able to adapt to in-service conditions.

Preparation of Silk Nanowhisker-Composited Amphoteric Cellulose/Chitin Nanofiber Membranes.

Native biopolymer nanofibers (cellulose, chitin, and silk nanofiber) are one of the most important contributors to the outstanding functions and mechanical properties of natural materials. To enhance the mechanical performance, A great deal of top-down routes have been reported to prepare biopolymers nanofibers/nanowhiskers that retaining their nanostructures. Compared with advances in cellulose and chitin nanofibers/nanowhiskers, it remains difficult for direct downsizing the natural silk fibers into silk nanofibers/nanowhiskers (SNFs/SNWs) because of their high crystallinity and sophisticated structures. In this work, environmentally friendly and recyclable deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were used to direct pretreat and downsize natural silks into silk nanowhiskers with high yield. SNWs with similar diameter (3.1-22 nm for OA/ChCl DES treated SNWs, 2.7-20 nm for CA/ChCl DES treated SNWs) and contour length (329 ± 140 nm for OA/ChCl DES treated SNWs, 365 ± 200 nm for CA/ChCl DES treated SNWs) to individual nanofibers in natural silk fibers were obtained. In addition, the separated DES with a recovery yield of at least 92% could be reused four times to produce SNWs, indicating the possibility of DESs as green solvents for sustainable biopolymer nanomaterial extraction. Based on the inherent amphoteric properties of SNWs, multicompatibility was explored to facilely composite SNWs with various polymers for preparation of coextruded membranes with enhanced performance and endowed the composites with protein-endowed double adsorption properties. Overall, this work demonstrated that the DES pretreatment process is promising for green and low-cost biopolymer nanomaterial extraction and that the SNWs prepared via DES have good prospects as nanoscale materials in the environmental field and in development of smart biomaterials and drug delivery in biomedicine.

ПРОЕКТУВАННЯ АВТОРСЬКОЇ КОЛЕКЦІЇ ЖІНОЧОГО ОДЯГУ В ЕКО-СТИЛІ ІЗ ВИКОРИСТАННЯМ ОЗДОБЛЕННЯ В ТЕХНІЦІ ВИБІЙКИ

The development and production of the author couture collection using the printing technique based on the analysis and application of the main eco-style features as well as on the research of the physical and mechanical properties of natural materials with linen fibers. The basic principles of the systematic approach to design development of the author collection, such as literary-analytical research, morphological analysis, figurative and associative stylization of the source of creativity, were used in the process. The properties of materials were researched by means of standard techniques.

Mechanical enhancement and in vitro biocompatibility of nanofibrous collagen-chitosan scaffolds for tissue engineering

The collagen–chitosan complex with a three-dimensional nanofiber structure was fabricated to mimic native ECM for tissue repair and biomedical applications. Though the three-dimensional hierarchical fibrous structures of collagen–chitosan composites could provide more adequate stimulus to facilitate cell adhesion, migrate and proliferation, and thus have the potential as tissue engineering scaffolding, there are still limitations in their applications due to the insufficient mechanical properties of natural materials. Because poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as biocompatible synthetic polymers can offer excellent mechanical properties, they were introduced into the collagen–chitosan composites to fabricate the mixed collagen/chitosan/PVA fibers and a sandwich structure (collagen/chitosan-TPU-collagen/chitosan) of nanofiber in order to enhance the mechanical properties of the nanofibrous collagen–chitosan scaffold. The results showed that the tensile behavior of materials was enhanced to different degrees with the difference of collagen content in the fibers. Besides the Young’s modulus had no obvious changes, both the break strength and the break elongation of materials were heightened after reinforced by PVA. For the collagen–chitosan nanofiber reinforced by TPU, both the break strength and the Young’s modulus of materials were heightened in different degrees with the variety of collagen content in the fibers despite the decrease of the break elongation of materials to some extent. In vitro cell test demonstrated that the materials could provide adequate environment for cell adhesion and proliferation. All these indicated that the reinforced collagen–chitosan nanofiber could be as potential scaffold for tissue engineering according to the different mechanical requirements in clinic.

Learning from nature: constructing high performance graphene-based nanocomposites

After billions of years of evolution, natural materials, such as bamboo, bone, and nacre, show unique mechanical properties, due to their intrinsic hierarchical micro/nanoscale architecture and abundant interfacial interactions. This relationship between architecture, interfacial interactions, and mechanical properties of natural materials, supplies the inspiration for constructing high performance lightweight nanocomposites. Graphene's high tensile strength, Young's modulus, and electrical conductivity when compared with other nanomaterials make it an ideal building block for constructing high performance bioinspired nanocomposites. Such nanocomposites demonstrate promise for applications in many fields, including aerospace, aeronautics, submarine devices, car, and flexible electronic devices. In this review, we focus on the bioinspired strategy for preparing graphene-based nanocomposites (GBNs), and discuss the various interfacial interactions. Then the synergistic effects from building blocks and interfacial interactions are discussed in detail, along with the resultant GBNs used in the applications of sensors, actuators, supercapacitors, and nanogenerators, are also illustrated. These GBNs include, for example, one-dimensional (1D) fiber, two-dimensional (2D) film, and three-dimensional (3D) bulk nanocomposites. Finally, we provide our perspective on GBNs, and discuss how to efficiently mimic natural materials for creating new multifunctional bioinspired nanocomposites for practical applications in the near future.

Dityrosine Cross-Linking in Designing Biomaterials.

The development of functional biomaterials for tissue engineering and medical applications has received increasing attention. While it has been known for decades that dityrosine bonds are a key component to many biopolymer materials in native tissues, only recently have these motifs been exploited in the development of new biomaterials. Here, we first review the importance of tyrosine-tyrosine chemical bonds in the assembly and mechanical properties of natural materials. Next, we discuss the chemistries available for cross-linking via tyrosine bonds and how these interactions have been applied to biomaterials. The goal of this Review is to highlight dityrosine bonding in biomaterial development, the reactions used to form them, and their utility in cross-linking native and chemically substituted phenolic side chains, as an underutilized tool in the de novo development of biomaterials.

Statistical shear lag model – Unraveling the size effect in hierarchical composites

Numerous experimental and computational studies have established that the hierarchical structures encountered in natural materials, such as the brick-and-mortar structure observed in sea shells, are essential for achieving defect tolerance. Due to this hierarchy, the mechanical properties of natural materials have a different size dependence compared to that of typical engineered materials. This study aimed to explore size effects on the strength of bio-inspired staggered hierarchical composites and to define the influence of the geometry of constituents in their outstanding defect tolerance capability. A statistical shear lag model is derived by extending the classical shear lag model to account for the statistics of the constituents’ strength. A general solution emerges from rigorous mathematical derivations, unifying the various empirical formulations for the fundamental link length used in previous statistical models. The model shows that the staggered arrangement of constituents grants composites a unique size effect on mechanical strength in contrast to homogenous continuous materials. The model is applied to hierarchical yarns consisting of double-walled carbon nanotube bundles to assess its predictive capabilities for novel synthetic materials. Interestingly, the model predicts that yarn gauge length does not significantly influence the yarn strength, in close agreement with experimental observations.

The mechanical properties of natural materials. II. Microstructures for mechanical efficiency

Many natural materials have exceptionally high values of the mechanical performance indices described in the previous, companion paper. For beams and plates of a given stiffness or strength, or for a column of a given buckling resistance, woods, palms and bamboo are among the most efficient materials available. Their mechanical efficiency arises from their combination of composite and cellular microstructures. In this paper we analyse the microstructures which give rise to exceptional performance, describe the fabrication and testing of model materials with those microstructures and discuss the implications for design of mechanically efficient engineering materials.

The mechanical properties of natural materials. I. Material property charts

The mechanical properties of natural materials as diverse as wood, muscle, shell and bone are plotted on material-property charts which show the relationships between properties. Performance indices are used to identify the load-bearing applications in which each performs particularly well. By these criteria, many natural materials are superior to the man-made materials of engineering. A companion paper examines some of the origins of this superiority; an explanation is sought in an analysis of the way structure influences properties.