Enhanced Mechanical Performance of Bio-Inspired Hybrid Structures Utilising Topological Interlocking Geometry

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Biomimetic Design

Background:

• Nacre's hierarchical microstructure inspires fracture-resistant, rigid hybrid materials.
• Replicating and improving nacre's complex structure is challenging.
• Topological interlocking offers enhanced flexural compliance in brittle materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create novel hybrid materials by integrating topological interlocking with nacre-inspired architectures.
• To enhance the mechanical properties of these new hybrid materials.
• To explore the design principles for such advanced composites.

Main Methods:

• Proposed altering hard building block geometry using topological interlocking.
• Combined nacre architecture with topologically interlocked discrete hard blocks.
• Incorporated a soft phase at interfaces using single-build additive manufacturing.
• Utilized computational modeling to guide structural design.

Main Results:

• Successfully produced a new class of hybrid materials by combining nacre inspiration and topological interlocking.
• Achieved further mechanical property improvements by adding a soft phase.
• Demonstrated the efficacy of topological interlocking in enhancing composite performance.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a novel approach to designing advanced hybrid materials.
• Combining nacre-inspired structures with topological interlocking offers significant advantages.
• This work pioneers the integration of these two design principles for superior material properties.