Peter Means for Virginia Tech
MOMENTUM • VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 21
Study co-authors Zian Jia , Ling Li , and Ting Yang , from left to right . Their study was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research .
absorption in packaging , transportation , and infrastructure , polymer and metal materials are the more popular choices . Ceramic foams are rarely used because they ’ re brittle , Li said . But ceramics have their own unique advantages — they ’ re more chemically stable and have a high melting temperature .
If cuttlebone ’ s properties could be applied to ceramic foams , their ability to withstand high heat paired with newfound damage tolerance could make ceramic foams ideal for use as thermal protection units in space shuttles or as general thermal protection , Li believes . His team has been evaluating that application in a separate study .
Though the team has already begun to look up from the sea to the sky at the possibilities that cuttlebone inspires , their study of the shell ’ s fundamental design strategies is just as important to Li .
“ Nature makes a lot of structural materials ,” Li said . “ These materials are made at room temperature and regular atmospheric pressure , unlike metals , which can be detrimental to the environment to produce — you need to use high temperatures and refraction processes for metals .
“ We ’ re intrigued by such differences between biological structural materials and engineered structural materials . Can we bridge these two and provide insights in making new structural materials ?”