Experimental study and numerical simulation on the structural and mechanical properties of Typha leaves through multimodal microscopy approaches

Jingjing Liu; Zhihui Zhang; Zhenglei Yu; Yunhong Liang; Xiujuan Li; Luquan Ren

doi:10.1016/j.micron.2017.10.004

Experimental study and numerical simulation on the structural and mechanical properties of Typha leaves through multimodal microscopy approaches

Micron. 2018 Jan:104:37-44. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Oct 12.

Authors

Jingjing Liu¹, Zhihui Zhang², Zhenglei Yu³, Yunhong Liang⁴, Xiujuan Li¹, Luquan Ren¹

Affiliations

¹ The Key Laboratory of Engineering Bionic (Ministry of Education, China) and the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China.
² The Key Laboratory of Engineering Bionic (Ministry of Education, China) and the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China; State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China. Electronic address: zhzh@jlu.edu.cn.
³ The Key Laboratory of Engineering Bionic (Ministry of Education, China) and the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China. Electronic address: zlyu@jlu.edu.cn.
⁴ The Key Laboratory of Engineering Bionic (Ministry of Education, China) and the College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China; State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130025, China.

PMID: 29073496
DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2017.10.004

Abstract

The Typha leaf, with special multi-level structure, low density and excellent mechanical properties, is an ideal bionic prototype utilized for lightweight design. In order to further study the relationship between the structure and mechanical properties, the three-dimensional macroscopic morphology of Typha leaves was characterized by micro computed tomography (Micro-CT) and its internal microstructure was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The combination of experimental and computational research was carried out in this paper, to reveal and verify the effect of multi-level structure on the mechanical properties. A universal testing machine and a self-developed mechanical testing apparatus with high precision and low load were used to measure the mechanical properties of the axial compression and lateral bending of the leaves, respectively. Three models with different internal structures were established based on the above-mentioned three-dimensional morphologies. The result demonstrated that the structure of partitions and diaphragms within the Typha leaf could form a reinforcement ribs structure which could provide multiple load paths and make the process of compression and bending difficult. The further nonlinear finite element analysis through LS-DYNA proved that internal structure could improve the ability of the models to resist compression and deformation. The investigation can be the reference for lightweight thin-walled structure design and inspire the application of the bionic structural materials.

Keywords: Bionics; Mechanical properties; Micro-CT; Multi-level structure; Simulation analysis; Typha leaf.

MeSH terms

Computer Simulation
Mechanical Phenomena*
Microscopy, Electrochemical, Scanning
Models, Biological
Plant Leaves / anatomy & histology*
Plant Leaves / ultrastructure*
Typhaceae / anatomy & histology*
Typhaceae / ultrastructure*
X-Ray Microtomography