Hole-pin joining structure with fiber-round-hole distribution of lobster cuticle and biomimetic study

    Authors

    B. Chen; J. H. Fan; J. H. Gou;S. Y. Lin

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater.

    Keywords

    Boston spiny lobster cuticle; Hole-pin joining structure; Fiber-round-hole distribution; Maximum pullout force; Biomimetic; fabrication; COMPOSITE STRUCTURES; HOMARUS-AMERICANUS; EXOSKELETON; MICROSTRUCTURE; FOREWINGS; FRACTURE; BEETLES; EXAMPLE; Engineering, Biomedical; Materials Science, Biomaterials

    Abstract

    Observations of the cuticle of the Boston Spiny Lobster using scanning electron microscope (SEM) show that it is a natural biocomposite consisting of chitin fibers and sclerotic-protein matrix with hierarchical and helicoidal structure. The SEM images also indicate that there is a hole-pin joining structure in the cuticle. In this joining structure, the chitin fibers in the neighborhood of the joining holes continuously round the holes to form a fiber-round-hole distribution. The maximum pullout force of the fibers in the fiber-round-hole distribution, which is closely related to the fracture toughness of the cuticle, is investigated and compared with that of the fibers in non-fiber-round-hole distribution based on their representative models. It is revealed that the maximum pullout force of the fibers in the fiber-round-hole distribution is significantly larger than that of the fibers in the non-fiber-round-hole distribution, and that a larger diameter of the hole results in a larger difference in the maximum pullout forces of the fibers between the two kinds of the fiber distributions. Inspired by the fiber-round-hole distribution found in the cuticle, composite specimens with the fiber-round-hole distribution were fabricated with a special mold and process to mirror the fiber-round-hole distribution. The fracture toughness of the biomimetic composite specimens is tested and compared with that of the conventional composite specimens with the non-fiber-round-hole distribution. It is demonstrated that the fracture toughness of the biomimetic composite specimens with the fiber-round-hole distribution is significantly larger than that of the conventional composite specimens with the non-fiber-round-hole distribution. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials

    Volume

    40

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    161

    Last Page

    167

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000345468700016

    ISSN

    1751-6161

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