biomimetic composites

Fast stress wave attenuation in composites is highly desired in many industry fields. Biological composites such as those in the beak of woodpeckers provide great inspiration for us to develop their synthetic counterparts with similar mechanical functions.

Unidirectional nanocomposite structures with parallel staggered platelet reinforcements are widely observed in natural biological materials. Our recent paper, published in J. Mech. Phys. Solids, is aimed at an investigation of the stiffness, strength, failure strain and energy storage capacity of a unidirectional nanocomposite with non-uniformly or randomly staggered platelet distribution.