Lamellae spatial distribution modulates fracture behavior and toughness of african pangolin scales

Chon, Michael J.; Daly, Matthew; Wang, Bin; Xiao, Xianghui; Zaheri, Alireza; Meyers, Marc A.; Espinosa, Horacio D.

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2017.06.009

Title: Lamellae spatial distribution modulates fracture behavior and toughness of african pangolin scales

Journal Article · Sat Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2017.06.009· OSTI ID:1438225

Chon, Michael J. ^[1]; Daly, Matthew ^[1]; Wang, Bin ^[2]; Xiao, Xianghui ^[3]; Zaheri, Alireza ^[4]; Meyers, Marc A. ^[5]; Espinosa, Horacio D. ^[6]

Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen (China). Shenzhen Inst. of Advanced Technology
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Program
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Program

Pangolin scales form a durable armor whose hierarchical structure offers an avenue towards high performance bio-inspired materials design. In this paper, the fracture resistance of African pangolin scales is examined using single edge crack three-point bend fracture testing in order to understand toughening mechanisms arising from the structures of natural mammalian armors. In these mechanical tests, the influence of material orientation and hydration level are examined. The fracture experiments reveal an exceptional fracture resistance due to crack deflection induced by the internal spatial orientation of lamellae. An order of magnitude increase in the measured fracture resistance due to scale hydration, reaching up to ~ 25 kJ/m² was measured. Post-mortem analysis of the fracture samples was performed using a combination of optical and electron microscopy, and X-ray computerized tomography. Interestingly, the crack profile morphologies are observed to follow paths outlined by the keratinous lamellae structure of the pangolin scale. Most notably, the inherent structure of pangolin scales offers a pathway for crack deflection and fracture toughening. Finally, the results of this study are expected to be useful as design principles for high performance biomimetic applications.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AFOSR-FA9550-15-1-0009; PDF-502224-2017

OSTI ID:: 1438225

Journal Information:: Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, Vol. 76; ISSN 1751-6161

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 10 works

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Structural Orientation and Anisotropy in Biological Materials: Functional Designs and Mechanics Liu, Zengqian; Zhang, Zhefeng; Ritchie, Robert O. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201908121	journal	January 2020
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