PhD in Chemical and Materials Sciences

MATERIALI BIOISPIRATI

BIOINSPIRED MATERIALS

Academic year 2016/2017

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 timetable is as follows:

tuesday 9th Feb. 4pm-6pm Aula Castagnoli, Dep. Physics)
tuesday 16th Feb. 4pm-6pm Aula G (Dep. Physics)
Tuesday March 8th, 15-17, Aula A (Dep. Physics)
Tuesday March 15th, 16-18, Aula G (Dep. Physics)

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