Bibliometric analysis of global research trends on biomimetics, biomimicry, bionics, and bio-inspired concepts in civil engineering using the Scopus database
This paper presents a bibliometrics analysis aimed at discerning global trends in research on ‘biomimetics’, ‘biomimicry’, ‘bionics’, and ‘bio-inspired’ concepts within civil engineering, using the Scopus database. This database facilitates the assessment of interrelationships and impacts of these concepts within the civil engineering domain. The findings demonstrate a consis tent growth in publications related to these areas, indicative of increasing interest and impact within the civil engineering community. Influential authors and institutions have emerged, making significant contributions to the field. ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - May 1, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Naim Sedira, Jorge Pinto, Isabel Bentes and Sandra Pereira Source Type: research
Porous structures inspired by porcupine quill: multiscale design optimization approach
This paper presents a novel approach for designing a freeform bending-resistant structure from the combination of explicit discrete component-based topology optimization (TO) and the porcupine quill-inspired features. To embed the porcupine quill ’s features into the TO formulations, the method involves constructing discrete components at various scales to imitate features including solid shell, stochastically distributed pores, and graded stiffeners. The components are iteratively updated, and the optimization process allows for the gradi ng of quill-inspired features while achieving optimal structural compliance under ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - May 1, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Tian Lan, Kate Fox and Phuong Tran Source Type: research
Leaf unfolding and lamina biomechanics in Syngonium podophyllum and Pilea peperomioides
In nature, leaves and their laminae vary in shape, appearance and unfolding behaviour. We investigated peltate leaves of two model species with peltate leaves and highly different morphology (Syngonium podophyllum and Pilea peperomioides) and two distinct unfolding patterns via time-lapse recordings: we observed successive unfolding of leaf halves in S. podophyllum and simultaneous unfolding in P. peperomioides. Furthermore, we gathered relevant morphological and biomechanical data in juvenile (unfolding) and adult (fully unfolded) leaves of both species by measuring the thickness and the tensile modulus of both lamina and...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 29, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Michelle Modert, Thomas Speck and Tom Masselter Source Type: research
Design of an actuator with bionic claw hook –suction cup hybrid structure for soft robot
This study provides new insights for the design of highly adaptable robots and biomimetic attachment devices. (Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics)
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 28, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Xingxiang Wang, Aomin Lin, Wenqing Yuan, Hongwei Hu, Guanggui Cheng and Jianning Ding Source Type: research
Parameters for selecting biological features in multifunctional bio-inspired design: a convergent evolution approach
Combining different biological features exhibiting different functions is necessary to generate uncommon and unique multifunctional bio-inspired conceptual designs. Different biological features independently evolve characteristics to solve the same need/necessity. This phenomenon is called convergent evolution. Without parameters, selecting a suitable feature from those that exhibit the same function and have the same geometric relevance becomes quite difficult. This research investigates and identifies the parameters that have the potential to support choosing the suitable biological feature and to support the multifunct...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 25, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Pavan Tejaswi Velivela, Arnaud Ridard and Yaoyao Fiona Zhao Source Type: research
Studies on effect of failure modes on mechanical properties of staggered composites
Biological materials such as bone, nacre, antler, and teeth are gifted with excellent mechanical properties that have inspired the development of synthetic composites. These superior properties are attributed to the geometrical as well as the material properties of the constituents at a small scale. This paper is focused on the influence of failure modes over the mechanical properties including stiffness, strength, and toughness, after the failure of different interfaces in staggered bio-inspired structures such as regular and stairwise staggered arrangements where stiff platelets are embedded in a pliant matrix. In order ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 22, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Abhirami A J and Anup S Source Type: research
Biological, physical and morphological factors for the programming of a novel microbial hygromorphic material
This study spans many fields including microbiology, materials science, design, fabrication and architectural technology, working at multiple scales from single cells to ‘bench-top’ prototype. Exploration of biological factors at cellular and ultracellular levels enabled optimisation of growth and sporulation conditions to biologically preprogramme optimum spore hygromorphic response and yield. Material explorations revealed physical factors influencing biomecha nics, preprogramming shape and response complexity through fabrication and inert substrate interactions, to produce a palette of HBCs. Morphological aggregatio...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 17, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Emily Birch, Ben Bridgens, Meng Zhang and Martyn Dade-Robertson Source Type: research
Functionally graded structures in the involucre of Job's tears
Nature is filled with materials that are both strong and light, such as bones, teeth, bamboo, seashells, arthropod exoskeletons, and nut shells. The insights gained from analyzing the changing chemical compositions and structural characteristics, as well as the mechanical properties of these materials, have been applied in developing innovative, durable, and lightweight materials like those used for impact absorption. This research concentrates on the involucres of Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi), which are rich in silica, hard, and serve to encase the seeds. The chemical composition and structural charac...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 15, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Rikima Kuwada and Daisuke Ishii Source Type: research
Towards humanlike grasp in robotic hands: mechanical implementation of force synergies
This study presents the design of a novel transmission system inspired from the physiological concept of force synergies, aiming to simplify the control of multifingered robotic hands. To this end, we collected human finger force data during six isometric grasping tasks, and force synergies (i.e. the synergy weightings and the corresponding activation coefficients) were extracted from the concatenated force data to explore their potential for force modulation. We then implemented two force synergies with a cable-driven transmission mechanism consisting of two spring-loaded sliders and five V-shaped bars. Specifically, we u...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 15, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Zhicheng Teng, Guanghua Xu, Jinju Pei, Baoyu Li, Sicong Zhang and Dongwang Li Source Type: research
Functionally graded structures in the involucre of Job ’s tears
Nature is filled with materials that are both strong and light, such as bones, teeth, bamboo, seashells, arthropod exoskeletons, and nut shells. The insights gained from analyzing the changing chemical compositions and structural characteristics, as well as the mechanical properties of these materials, have been applied in developing innovative, durable, and lightweight materials like those used for impact absorption. This research concentrates on the involucres of Job ’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma-jobi), which are rich in silica, hard, and serve to encase the seeds. The chemical composition and structural cha...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 15, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Rikima Kuwada and Daisuke Ishii Source Type: research
Specialized spatially-arranged non-circular fibers enhance filtration performance of African shrimp (Atya gabonensis)
African shrimp (Atya gabonensis) inhabit clear freshwaters, where the notably low concentration of food may pose a challenge to the efficacy of filter fibers on the chela for filter-feeding. Here, we investigate how the distinctive cross-sectional characteristics and spatial arrangement of the African shrimp ’s non-circular fibers contribute to the enhanced filtration performance of these specialized fibers. The unilateral thickening of the wall along the long axis of the elliptical cross-section of African shrimp fibers markedly enhances the filtration performance. The staggered and twisted arrangeme nt of the fibers op...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 14, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Yifeng Liao, Jun Lyu, Yujia Zhang, Yuhe Hong, Shuoshuo Ding, Zhigang Wu, Hao Liu and Jianing Wu Source Type: research
Interaction of barn owl leading edge serrations with freestream turbulence
The silent flight of barn owls is associated with wing and feather specialisations. Three special features are known: a serrated leading edge that is formed by free-standing barb tips which appears as a comb-like structure, a soft dorsal surface, and a fringed trailing edge. We used a model of the leading edge comb with 3D-curved serrations that was designed based on 3D micro-scans of rows of barbs from selected barn-owl feathers. The interaction of the flow with the serrations was measured with Particle-Image-Velocimetry in a flow channel at uniform steady inflow and was compared to the situation of inflow with freestream...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 14, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Alden Midmer, Christoph Br ücker, Matthias Weger, Hermann Wagner and Horst Bleckmann Source Type: research
Effect of schooling on flow generated sounds from carangiform swimmers
Computational models are used to examine the effect of schooling on flow generated noise from fish swimming using their caudal fins. We simulate the flow as well as the far-field hydrodynamic sound generated by the time-varying pressure loading on these carangiform swimmers. The effect of the number of swimmers in the school, the relative phase of fin flapping of the swimmers, and their spatial arrangement is examined. The simulations indicate that the phase of the fin flapping is a dominant factor in the total sound radiated into the far-field by a group of swimmers. For small schools, a suitable choice of relative phase ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 14, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Ji Zhou, Jung-Hee Seo and Rajat Mittal Source Type: research
Enhancing stance robustness and jump height in bipedal muscle-actuated systems: a bioinspired morphological development approach
Recognizing humans ’ unmatched robustness, adaptability, and learning abilities across anthropomorphic movements compared to robots, we find inspiration in the simultaneous development of both morphology and cognition observed in humans. We utilize optimal control principles to train a muscle-actuated human model fo r both balance and squat jump tasks in simulation. Morphological development is introduced through abrupt transitions from a 4 year-old to a 12 year-old morphology, ultimately shifting to an adult morphology. We create two versions of the 4 year-old and 12 year-old models— one emulating hu man ontog...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 10, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Nadine Badie and Syn Schmitt Source Type: research
Bioinspiration from bats and new paradigms for autonomy in natural environments
Achieving autonomous operation in complex natural environment remains an unsolved challenge. Conventional engineering approaches to this problem have focused on collecting large amounts of sensory data that are used to create detailed digital models of the environment. However, this only postpones solving the challenge of identifying the relevant sensory information and linking it to action control to the domain of the digital world model. Furthermore, it imposes high demands in terms of computing power and introduces large processing latencies that hamper autonomous real-time performance. Certain species of bats that are ...
Source: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics - April 10, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Rolf M üller Source Type: research
