Bribiesca Sykes, D. , Hartwell, R., Bradley, R. S., Burnett, T. L., Hornberger, B., Garwood, R. J. and Withers, P. J. (2019) Time-lapse three-dimensional imaging of crack propagation in beetle cuticle. Acta Biomaterialia, 86, pp. 109-116. (doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2019.01.031)
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Abstract
Arthropod cuticle has extraordinary properties. It is very stiff and tough whilst being lightweight, yet it is made of rather ordinary constituents. This desirable combination of properties results from a hierarchical structure, but we currently have a poor understanding of how this impedes damage propagation. Here we use non-destructive, time-lapse in situ tensile testing within an X-ray nanotomography (nCT) system to visualise crack progression through dry beetle elytron (wing case) cuticle in 3D. We find that its hierarchical pseudo-orthogonal laminated microstructure exploits many extrinsic toughening mechanisms, including crack deflection, fibre and laminate pull-out and crack bridging. We highlight lessons to be learned in the design of engineering structures from the toughening methods employed.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Bribiesca Sykes, Dr Daniel |
| Authors: | Bribiesca Sykes, D., Hartwell, R., Bradley, R. S., Burnett, T. L., Hornberger, B., Garwood, R. J., and Withers, P. J. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry |
| Journal Name: | Acta Biomaterialia |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 1742-7061 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1878-7568 |
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