Multi-scale cohesive laws in hierarchical materials

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2007.06.007
• Publication Date: 2007-06-16T10:11:17Z
• Authors: Haimin Yao; Huajian Gao
• Keywords: Mechanical Engineering; Applied Mathematics; Gecko; Biological materials; 02 engineering and technology; Hierarchical materials; Flaw tolerance; Condensed Matter Physics; Fracture; Materials Science(all); 0203 mechanical engineering; Mechanics of Materials; Modelling and Simulation; Adhesion; Bone; 0210 nano-technology

AbstractMotivated by the observations that natural materials such as bone, shell, tendon and the attachment system of gecko exhibit multi-scale hierarchical structures, this paper aims to develop a better understanding of the effects of structural hierarchy on flaw insensibility of materials from the viewpoint of multi-scale cohesive laws. We consider two idealized, self-similar models of hierarchical materials, one mimicking gecko’s attachment system and the other mimicking the mineral–protein composite structure of bone, to demonstrate that structural hierarchy leads to multi-scale cohesive laws which can be designed from bottom up to enable flaw tolerance from nanoscale to macroscopic length scales.