A Bio-Inspired Strategy for In-Plane Energy Dissipation through Suture Interfaces

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The research will explore a new strategy for the creation of mechanically sound connections between individual parts of plates and shells. This approach is inspired by findings in natural materials where individual parts are often found to be connected to each other om jigsaw-puzzle-like structure. One such example are seed coats of some plants, which consist of stiff, nominally planar building blocks that are connected to one another via compliant zigzag seams. These seams are called suture interfaces. This investigation will focus on how the network of suture interfaces contributes to toughness, damage-tolerance, and the efficiency of load transmission between building blocks. Engineering analysis, computer simulations and experiments on 3D printed plate and shell systems will be conducted. The knowledge gained from this research will provide guidelines for designing new lightweight and damage-tolerant material systems with broad engineering applications in aerospace, naval, architectural structures, ground vehicles, and armor. The interdisciplinary nature of the research will involve diversified participants and will expose students to the areas of mechanics, materials, biology and manufacturing. The research will employ an integrated analytical, computational and experimental methodology to systematically quantify the mechano-morphological effects in the bio-inspired jigsaw composite plates and shells. A hybrid analytical and finite element modeling approach will be used to predict the mechanical behaviors of suture interfaces and jigsaw composites, including the mixed-mode damage initiation and evolution, two basic failure mechanisms of suture interfaces and the failure mechanism transition. A 3D multi-material printer will be extensively used to fabricate suture and composite specimens for mechanical experiments to verify or provide inputs to the analytical and numerical models. In the area of bio-inspired engineering, although substantial progress has been made on understanding the mechanical response of biological structures, the manufacture of artificial composites with precisely-controlled interface morphology and material composition remains a challenging goal. The development of 3D printing technology provides an opportunity to overcome this difficulty. Therefore, this research will not only explore a new toughening and energy-dissipation mechanisms of a natural composite material but also the methodology developed reveals a paradigm for using 3D printing as a tool to explore fundamental engineering and scientific questions and new concepts in biomimetic design.