Mantis shrimp pincers have inspired a new structure for certain composite materials. This new design is stronger than the current stands used for manufacturing aircrafts. It is also more resilient to wear than traditional manufacturing techniques.
Stomatopods, commonly known as peacock mantis shrimp, grow to be just four to six inches long. Despite their tiny size, the species possess a club, much like a fist, that accelerates faster than a .22 caliber bullet as the creature hunts its prey. This fist-like appendage can strike prey thousands of times without breaking.
This durability attracted the notice of David Kisailus of the University of California.
There are "a multitude of biomineralized organisms that produce remarkably sophisticated three-dimensional organic-inorganic composite materials that in many aspects rival the structural, optical, and mechanical properties afforded by modern materials engineering strategies," Kisailus wrote on his university website.
The club of mantis is composed of sheets of material, with grains aligned several degrees away from adjoining layers.
Researchers placed sheets of carbon fiber-epoxy composite on top of each other, with each layer being placed at specific angles to each other. Three varieties were created, with layers aligned at angles differing from adjoining sheets by ten to 25 degrees. This arrangement mimicked the club of the Mantis shrimp, and are called helicoidal arrangements. Two control structures were also constructed for the tests. One had layers that were parallel, and another which consisted of alternating angles of 0, -45, +45 and 90 degrees. That quasi-isotronic arrangement is the standard for construction of aircraft.
Kisailus and his team subjected the materials to a drop weight testing system, duplicating testing done by aeronautical manufacturers. The samples were then examined visually, the depth of dents were recorded and were examined by ultrasound equipment to look for internal damage. Researchers found the helicoidal designs were between 15 and 20 percent more durable than current construction methods.
"These findings have implications in the design of composite parts for aerospace, automotive and armor applications," researchers wrote..
Mantis shrimp can deliver punches with a force equal to 1,000 times its own body weight. Kisailus is forced to keep the creatures in an aquarium that is specially-designed so that the crustacean doesn't break the glass to get out of captivity.
Researchers from Perdue University and the University of Southern California also participated in the investigation.
Study of the mantis shrimp and possible advances in material technology was detailed in the journal Acta Biomaterialia.
