About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Biological Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
When natural architectures are not mechanically optimal: growth constraints in molluscan prismatic structures |
| Author(s) |
Ling Li, Shahbaz Mahmood Khan |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Ling Li |
| Abstract Scope |
Biological structural materials are widely studied as models for bioinspired engineering. However, their architectures evolve under developmental and physiological constraints rather than mechanical or other functional optimization alone. Here, using molluscan prismatic shell structures as a case study, we show that growth constraints imposed by continuous mantle secretion can produce architectures that are mechanically suboptimal for engineering objectives. By fabricating synthetic composites that replicate and systematically reverse the natural prism arrangement, we demonstrate that the biologically adopted configuration is outperformed by an alternative architecture in stiffness, strength, energy absorption, and impact resistance. These findings suggest that understanding the constraints governing biological material formation, rather than directly mimicking natural architectures, provides a more effective framework for bioinspired structural materials design. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Composites, Mechanical Properties, Biomaterials |