PhD in Chemical and Materials Sciences

Materiali Bioispirati

Bioinspired materials

Academic year 2014/2015

Sommario del corso

• Program
• Notes
• Teaching tools

Program

The course covers some of the main topics in the mechanics of biological and bioinspired materials, i.e. materials that draw inspiration from specific examples found in Nature that display exceptional performances and functionality.

Topics:
Biomaterials and biological structural materials: wood, bone, tendons, spider silk... ;
Achieving function through structure: examples of bioinspired design (e.g. gecko paws, spider webs, lotus leaves);
Importance of hierarchical structure;
Simultaneous optimization of competing properties: Strength vs. toughness, Stiffness vs. density, etc.  Biomimicry and bioinspiration.
Artificial materials: traditional composite materials, nanocomposites and their applications. Hierarchical composite materials. Bioinspired composite materials. Self-healing materials. Metamaterials.
Review of basic physical concepts and their application to biological/bioinspired materials: elasticity, fracture mechanics, flaw tolerance, fatigue, adhesion/antiadhesion, hydrophobicity, friction, wave propagation and damping.
Theoretical models and numerical approaches used in the modelling of heterogeneous (composite) materials; multiscale modelling; fibrous materials and fibre bundle models; finite element modelling; peridynamics.
Examples and case studies.

Class schedule

Note

The course will take place in March
Final schedule to be defined

• Teaching materials
• Exams and finals
• Go to Moodle
• Visit the forums