Bioinspired Design

Abstract

Bioinspired design involves the use of concepts observed in natural biological materials in engineering design. The hope is that the leveraging of biological materials in the engineering domain can lead to many technological innovations and novel products. This work presents the initial material characterization of kinixys erosa tortoise shell using a combination of x- ray diffraction, optical/scanning electron microscopy and micro-mechanical testing. The results were used in the analytical/computational modelling of shell structures. The potential implications or the results were then discussed to give fundamental understanding of deformation and stress responses of shell structures.