Improving structural damage tolerance and fracture energy via bamboo-inspired void patterns.
Bioinspir Biomim
; 19(5)2024 Jul 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38917819
ABSTRACT
Bamboo has a functionally-graded microstructure that endows it with a combination of desirable properties, such as high failure strain, high toughness, and a low density. As a result, bamboo has been widely used in load-bearing structures. In this work, we study the use of bamboo-inspired void patterns to geometrically improve the failure properties of structures made from brittle polymers. We perform finite element analysis and experiments on 3D-printed structures to quantify the effect of the shape and spatial distribution of voids on the fracture behavior. The introduction of periodic, uniformly distributed voids in notched bend specimens leads to a 15-fold increase in the fracture energy relative to solid specimens. Adding a gradient to the pattern of voids leads to a cumulative 55-fold improvement in the fracture energy. Mechanistically, the individual voids result in crack blunting, which suppresses crack initiation, while neighboring voids redistribute stresses throughout the sample to enable large deformation before failure.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress, Mechanical
/
Finite Element Analysis
Language:
En
Journal:
Bioinspir Biomim
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
ENGENHARIA BIOMEDICA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States