Biomimicry borrows design solutions from the plant intelligence within creature ’ body — chiefly from other metal money . But occasionally , it also take up from within the human body . For instance , a young study from MIT suggests that buildings of the hereafter could be build up with ace - strong textile based on the structure of human bones .
In a study release yesterday inAdvanced Functional Materials , MIT researchers explain how studying human bones take to the existence of three superintendent - materials . Human bones , you see , are made up of microscopical bed of collagen ( the material your tendons are made from ) and hydroxyapatite ( which is more like your teeth ) . Together , they form a strong structure — a bit like brick and mortar — and make our bones capable of withstanding an incredible amount of force .
The MIT group utilise the same principle to three synthetic material , layering them on a microscopical scale using a 3D printer . The event was a hybrid material with a stupefying 22 time the strength of any individual fabric . Wired UK author Liat Clarkexplains :
The squad first designed the three materials using computer software : bone and nacre ( mother of pearl ) ; mineral calcite and a snakeskin - like diamond - patterned material . Each material [ … ] would be made from two synthetical textile to “ micrometer resolution ” , with one acting as the brick and the other the cementum . The mother of pearl - type textile was made from a microscopical structure that looks like a rampart , while the calcite see the materials swap circle so the cement was actually made up of the blind drunk material , and the bricks the soft .
The paper describes these cross as “ metamaterials , ” and situate that the futurity of of architecture lie in figuring out how to spend less push fabricating more effective building . By altering the hierarchic design of material on a micro grade , architects may , eventually , terminate up change the style building are reconstruct at a macro graduated table . In fact , plenty of designers are experimenting with interchangeable ideas — for example , usingparametric clay sculpture softwareto optimize the shape of column based on strain loads .
Markus Buehler , the head of MIT ’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a lead author on the subject , describe the findings as a way to take up from nature while pursuing the future tense . “ The geometrical patterns we used in the semisynthetic materials are free-base on those seen in natural stuff like bone or nacre , but also include raw designs that do not exist in nature , ” he said in astatement . “ As engineers we are no longer restrain to the born figure . We can plan our own , which may execute even better than the ones that already exist . ”
The large challenge , so far , is one of scale : 3D printing is still too expensive and inaccurate to scale production up to the construction scale . Still , as Harvard ’s Jennifer Lewis put it , “ this enquiry is a wonderful exemplar of how 3 - D printing can be used to fabricate complex architecture that emulate those found in nature . ” [ Wired UK ]
“ This pic usher the brick - and - mortar pattern of simulated ivory and nacre against the backdrop of real mother-of-pearl find in the inner carapace of many mollusc , ” explicate the folk at MIT .
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