Flexural stiffness of feather shafts: geometry rules over material properties.

Flight feathers of birds interact with the flow field during flight. They bend and twist under aerodynamic loads. Two parameters are mainly responsible for flexibility in feathers: the elastic modulus (Young's modulus, E) of the material (keratin) and the geometry of the rachises, more precisely the second moment of area (I). Two independent methods were employed to determine Young's modulus of feather rachis keratin. Moreover, the second moment of area and the bending stiffness of feather shafts from fifth primaries of barn owls (Tyto alba) and pigeons (Columba livia) were calculated. These species of birds are of comparable body mass but differ in wing size and flight style. Whether their feather material (keratin) underwent an adaptation in stiffness was previously unknown. This study shows that no significant variation in Young's modulus between the two species exists. However, differences in Young's modulus between proximal and distal feather regions were found in both species. Cross-sections of pigeon rachises were particularly well developed and rich in structural elements, exemplified by dorsal ridges and a well-pronounced transversal septum. In contrast, cross-sections of barn owl rachises were less profiled but had a higher second moment of area. Consequently, the calculated bending stiffness (EI) was higher in barn owls as well. The results show that flexural stiffness is predominantly influenced by the geometry of the feathers rather than by local material properties.

Stability, elastic properties and fracture toughness of Al0.75X0.75B14 (X=Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo) investigated using ab initio calculations.

The effect of the transition metal valence electron concentration on the energy of formation, effective charge of B icosahedra, elastic properties, surface energy and fracture toughness was calculated using density functional theory for icosahedral transition metal borides of AlXB14 (X=Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo). Consistent with previous work on AlYB14 (Kölpin et al 2009 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 21 355006) it is shown that phase stability is generally dependent on the effective charge of the icosahedral transition metal borides. Also, ionization potential and electronegativity are identified as parameters affecting the effective charge of B icosahedra suitable for use in predicting the phase stability. Al0.75Y0.75B14, Al0.75Sc0.75B14 and Al0.75Zr0.75B14 have been identified as promising phases for application as protective coatings as they exhibit high phase stability and stiffness combined with a comparatively high fracture toughness.

Phase stability of AlYB(14) sputtered thin films.

AlYB(14) (Imma) thin films were synthesized by magnetron sputtering. On the basis of x-ray diffraction, no phases other than crystalline AlYB(14) could be identified. According to electron probe microanalysis, energy dispersive x-ray analysis and elastic recoil detection analysis, the Al and Y occupancies vary in the range of 0.73-1.0 and 0.29-0.45, respectively. Density functional theory based calculations were carried out to investigate the effect of occupancy on the stability of Al(x)Y(y)B(14) (x,y = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1). The mean effective charge per icosahedron and the bulk moduli were also calculated. It is shown that the most stable configuration is Al(0.5)YB(14), corresponding to a charge transfer of two electrons from the metal atoms to the boron icosahedra. Furthermore, it is found that the stability of a configuration is increased as the charge is homogeneously distributed within the icosahedra. The bulk moduli for all configurations investigated are in the range between 196 and 220 GPa, rather close to those for known hard phases such as α- Al(2)O(3).