Generative design as a tool to analyse the uncertain loading regimes of intricate skeletal structures

The morphology of a skeletal structure is driven in part by the forces it endures over evolutionary time. We demonstrate that generative design, an iterative engineering tool, can yield insight into the loading regimes of complex skeletal elements. With only a simple model of the spatial constraints and potential forces seen by a skeletal element, we generated analogous structures. We used this technique to provide insights into the specialization of the radial elements of batoid pectoral fins, a case that would be challenging to analyse by conventional means. Particular configurations of generative designs resulted in structures with a morphology remarkably similar to that of real radials. We suggest that these cases reveal the loading configurations that the real radials have evolved to withstand.