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A Macroscale Biomimetic Composite Duplicating the Deformation Mechanisms of Nacre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Deju Zhu  and
Francois Barthelat
Deju Zhu
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada
Francois Barthelat
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada
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Abstract

This article presents the first man-made material based on the structure of nacre that successfully duplicates the mechanism of tablet sliding. This material was made of millimeter size PMMA tablets arranged in columns and held by fasteners. Strain hardening was provided by tablet waviness, delaying localization and leading to strains at failure 3-5 times greater than bulk PMMA. Analytical and finite element models successfully captured the locking mechanisms, enabling a rigorous design and optimization of similar composites based on different materials or at different length scales. This work demonstrates how key features and mechanisms in natural nacre can be successfully harnessed in engineering materials. Interestingly, the development of this model material and of its associated models also unveiled two new mechanisms, the effect of free surfaces and “unzipping”. Both mechanisms may be relevant to natural materials such as nacre or bone.

Keywords

biomimetic (assembly)compositestress/strain relationship
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1301: Symposium V/NN/OO/PP – Soft Matter, Biological Materials and Biomedical Materials—Synthesis, Characterization and Applications , 2011 , mrsf10-1301-oo11-03
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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