Tag: Biomimicry

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Biomimicry Key Insights

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle: 

  • Engineers are working on an 8-million-dollar project funded by the US Air Force; looking into how the beetle operates to create an impact-resistant material.
  • “They can withstand compression of up to 39,000 times their body weight.” (a car could run them over and they would be fine)
  • “The beetle’s fused elytra [are] interlocked. While other beetles have interlocking elytra, the diabolical ironclad had a greater number of interlocking sections, resembling connected jigsaw-puzzle pieces.”
“These images show the diabolical ironclad beetle (top left) and how its abdomen (top middle and right) contains an internal architecture (bottom) featuring puzzle-piece-like joints (bottom left) where the two halves of its exoskeleton join that make it incredibly crush-resistant. (Credit: UC Irvine)”

Read more Here

Pangolins & Striped Bass Fish:

Both of these species are structured in similar ways. These structures allow for flexibility/movement has well provides a layered protection that keeps predators from puncturing its outer layer.  The striped Bass scales are about 0.2 to 0.3 mm thick and can stop about 3 Newtons.

Pangolin Close up of Striped Bass Scales

Golden-Scale Snail:  The SeaSnail uses a hard, armor-like shell with a tri-layered composition. This reminded me of how the current body armours are constructed using multiple layers to absorb the impact. 

Read More HERE

Sea Urchin: Live at the bottom of the sea about 1,600 feet underwater with “enormous amount of pressure, approximately 700 pounds per square inch, from the water pushing down on the sea urchin in all directions. This is the same as being crushed by a stack of 20 elephants!”

  • “shell is constructed of many small plates made of a strong material called calcium carbonate.”
  • Any impact on a sea urchin structure gets distributes “across the shell rather than to a single point.”
  • We can learn from the sea urchin’s structure, how it is stronger and lightweight yet is able to withstand strong forces.
Read More HERE

Venus’ Flower Basket:

  • Look delicate/fragile but very strong
  • multiple levels help manage forces
  • “thickness of a human hair. Yet these sponges manage to hold firm and resist bending in the current in harsh environments as deep as 1000 meters below the surface.”
  • “The secret to their strength is in the geometric structure of those thin glass spicules.”
  • OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Read More HERE

I can see both the Sea Urchin and the Venus’ Flower Basket structure help create ventilation and could help absorb the force of a bullet.