Bioinspired MEMS Composites

由脆性成分组成的层压结构在国家利益的广泛应用中提供了希望。其中包括：航空发动机中的热部件、机场和道路的路面材料以及电子封装。生物启发MEMS（微机电系统）复合材料的机械性能的综合制造、实验和理论研究将获得SGER奖的支持。 研究结果将对改进的合成陶瓷基层压板的开发产生影响。这一概念验证工作的灵感来自于软体动物壳，这是一种天然存在的陶瓷/聚合物复合材料，具有非常高的陶瓷相体积含量（95-99%），少量的有机（蛋白质）“基质”（1-5%），并显示出令人印象深刻的和不寻常的强度，韧性和硬度。软体动物壳的微结构将在MEMS结构中通过碳化硅（模拟壳中的陶瓷相）和碳（模拟相对较弱的蛋白质界面）的交替层来近似。这部分的研究不仅将验证实验确定的壳微结构和断裂/变形机制可以用于制造生物启发的强，坚韧和硬材料，但也将有助于MEMS制造技术的发展，以及其他电子器件具有上级机械性能。本论文的主要研究内容如下：任务1：仿生层合结构模型脆性基复合材料的制备。MEMS技术将用于设计和制造碳化硅/碳复合材料，模仿巨大的粉红色海螺Strombus Gigas外壳的交叉层状结构。该结构的强度和韧性将通过实验测量，以评估仿生设计与自然设计的接近程度。任务2：机械响应的理论建模。实验结果的解释，并导致优化的机械性能的自然设计的基本特征的确定将支持微机械和全球模型开发作为研究的一部分。

Laminated structures comprised of mostly brittle constituents offer promise in a wide range of applications of national interest. These include: Hot section components in aircraft engines, pavement materials for airfields and roads, and electronic packaging.A combined fabrication, experimental and theoretical study of the mechanical properties of bioinspired MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) composites will be supported under an SGER award. The results will impact the development of improved synthetic ceramic-based laminates. The inspiration for this proof-of-concept effort comes from mollusk shells, which are naturally-occurring ceramic/polymer composites, with a very high volume content (95-99%) of the ceramic phase, a small quantity of organic (proteinaceous) "matrix" (1-5%), and which show impressive and unusual strength, toughness, and hardness. The microarchitecture of mollusk shells will be approximated in MEMS structures by alternating layers of silicon carbide (to imitate the ceramic phase in the shells) and carbon (to imitate the relatively weak protein interphase). This part of the research not only will verify that the experimentally-identified shell microarchitectures and fracture/deformation mechanisms can be utilized to make bioinspired strong, tough and hard materials, but will also contribute to the development of MEMS fabrication technology, and to other electronic devices with superior mechanical properties. The proposed research involves the following tasks: Task 1: Fabrication of model brittle matrix composites with bio-inspired laminated architectures. MEMS technology will be used to design and fabricate a silicon carbide/carbon composite that mimics the crossed-lamellar structures of the shell of the giant pink conch, Strombus Gigas. The strength and toughness of this structure will be measured experimentally to assess how close the biomimetic design is to the natural design. Task 2: Theoretical modeling of mechanical response. The interpretation of experimental results, and determination of the essential features of the natural designs that lead to optimization of mechanical properties will be supported by micromechanical and global models to be developed as part of the research.