| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2024 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Biological Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
The Shape of Nature’s Stingers Revealed |
| Author(s) |
Marc A. Meyers, Haocheng Quan, Xudong Liang, Xuan Zhang, Robert McMeeking, Eduard Arzt |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Marc A. Meyers |
| Abstract Scope |
Stinger-like structures in living organisms evolved convergently across taxa for both defensive and offensive purposes, the main goal being penetration and damage. Observations over a broad range of taxa and sizes reveal a self-similar geometry of the stinger extremity, the diameter (d) varying along the distance from tip (x) following a power law x ~ d^n, with the exponent varying universally between 2 and 3. We demonstrate, through both analytical and experimental mechanics, that this geometry optimizes the stinger performance and represents a trade-off between propensity to buckle, for n smaller than 2, and increased penetration force, for n greater than 2. Moreover, we find that this optimal tapering exponent does not depend on stinger size, material elastic modulus and aspect ratio (base diameter over length). |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Biomaterials, Mechanical Properties, Modeling and Simulation |