“Near the surface, instead of having fibers, you have a transition to nanoparticles, and we think these nanoparticles serve the function of distributing the stress,” Zavattieri said.
The potential application of these new composites would be another example of how digital fabrication technologies can interact with the biological world. During the recent American Institute of Architects show in Philadelphia, MIT professor Neri Oxman inspired an audience of architects with her vision of “material ecology,” which spans the intersection of additive manufacturing, materials engineering, synthetic design, and computational design. Her TED Talk on the subject has over a million views and is spurring conversation around the world.
Purdue and UCR are already working on fabricating second-generation composites that incorporate features inspired by the mantis. For more information, read A Sinusoidally Architected Helicoidal Biocomposite.
