Biologically-Inspired Systems

Volume 6

Series Editor Stanislav N. Gorb Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany Motto: Structure and function of biological systems as inspiration for technical developments Throughout evolution, nature has constantly been called upon to act as an engi- neer in solving technical problems. Organisms have evolved an immense variety of shapes and structures from macro down to the nanoscale. Zoologists and botanists have collected a huge amount of information about the structure and functions of biological materials and systems. This information can be also utilized to mimic biological solutions in further technical developments. The most important feature of the evolution of biological systems is multiple origins of similar solutions in different lineages of living organisms. These examples should be the best candi- dates for biomimetics. This book series will deal with topics related to structure and function in biological systems and show how knowledge from biology can be used for technical developments in engineering and materials science. It is intended to accelerate interdisciplinary research on biological functional systems and to promote technical developments. Documenting of the advances in the field will be important for fellow scientists, students, public officials, and for the public in general. Each of the books in this series is expected to provide a comprehensive, authoritative synthesis of the topic.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8430 Christian Hamm Editor

Evolution of Lightweight Structures

Analyses and Technical Applications

1 3 Editor Christian Hamm Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz- Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung Bremerhaven Germany

ISSN 2211-0593 ISSN 2211-0607 (electronic) Biologically-Inspired Systems ISBN 978-94-017-9397-1 ISBN 978-94-017-9398-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-9398-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015930397

Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface

This book is based on the hypothesis that evolution created a large variety of fantastic, very efficient lightweight structures as a result of the adaptation to diverse environmental factors, i.e. significant mechanical challenges and the need to build lightly and/or economically. The focus of this book is on planktonic organisms, where there is good evidence that an arms race between predators such as copepods and their floating prey— diatoms and radiolarians—leads to a large, continuously changing pool of species with individual (defensive) lightweight structures (see Knoll and Kotrc, Chap. 1). Due to a very patchy fossil record, it is impossible to follow the development of feeding tools of copepods to a similar extent—but we do see the results of the arms race: the gnathobases of copepods are not only highly developed in their complex geometries, they also have a sophisticated multi material composition (see Michels and Gorb, Chap. 3). Diatoms and radiolarians are unicellular organisms and thus restricted to sizes between a few µm and 1 mm. They use amorphous silica as the main building material, which is very convenient as it makes, unlike crystalline minerals, any form possible—even in the size range between a few nm and a mm. The process of biomineralization is initiated by small amounts of organic components and recent research has shown that there is not only one, but a large variety of chemical components involved in this process (Ehrlich and Witkowski, Chap. 4). This makes diatom silica a composite, and an additional structuring of interfaces between organic and inorganic components most likely results in anisotropic, strong material properties. This would be consistent with theoretical mechanics: the best lightweight solutions are a combination of sophisticated structures and composite materials. The resolution of microscopes with regard to resolving the diatom composite structure qualitatively and quantitatively in 3D is, however, so far unsatisfactory. Layers of silica seem to have a size of 30–40 nm, and the organic layers are even thinner, so that a reasonable material model could not be realized within the project. Although virtually all other structural biogenic materials are also composites, there is one group of organisms, where composites are very common, and which also combine silica with organic materials: higher plants. Especially in equise- tales and graminaceae silica structures (phytoliths) are very abundant. Since many

v vi Preface

publications have already dealt with fibre orientation of wood and plant stems, Keutmann and Speck (Chap. 9) focus on the detection and potential mechanical function of phytoliths in higher plants. Light weight structures are also an issue in much larger marine organisms, such as echinodermata, especially sea urchins. They use CaCO3 to build their skeletons and have also optimized their mechanical strength to reduce mortality by preda- tion; the selection pressure to build light structures is probably based on their need for mobility and to save energy necessary to build a CaCO3-skeleton. The fossil record is excellent and the geometries of the solitary organisms are less restricted by growth processes than they are in trees or snails. A variety of fascinating typical lightweight principles of sea urchin skeletons are described by Nebelsick et al. in Chap. 8. Since evolutionary processes have led to fantastic lightweight solutions, especially in diatoms, but are not easily accessible for engineers, Chap. 5 (Kooistra and Pohl) summarizes a variety of interesting principles and gives examples of how they could be applied in the technical world. Hierarchically organized—fractal—structures are very common in nature. Es- pecially diatom shells are known for honeycomb structures which are interlaced within each other. In other cases they have different stiffening devices such as ribs, honeycombs, and undulations which are combined in different dimensions. This design is advantageous if a massive outer skin, resulting in the best second moment of area, is for whatever reason not applicable. In the case of diatoms, high perme- ability is required to ensure efficient uptake of nutrients. Other (including technical) reasons could be the need for transparency or a production process. The combination of complex fractally structured geometries with modern fibre reinforced plastic materials is a highly challenging task, as multiple branchings are the rule and have to be solved. In Chap. 7 by Milwich, an innovative method is described to produce geometrically complex Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) structures. Mechanical tests revealed very promising properties, e.g. for robot structures. Thus, with the rapid development of production technologies, the near future will see considerable progress in this field. A highly aesthetic solution for an exhibition pavilion made of thin glass fibre reinforced plastic is described by Pohl (Chap. 6). This ambitious project shows how a combination of lightweight principles from nature, human intuition, and innovative manufacturing approaches can lead to a highly attractive product with the potential for upscaling. In this case, the design aspect is very important and has been success- fully realized—visitors of the pavilion were enthusiastic. An innovative, powerful method which combines several principles of the evolutionary optimization process is the ELiSE method (Chap. 10). It uses the full potential of a synthesis of (a) natural lightweight principles, (b) the innovation strength of ecosystems due to a high biodiversity, and (c) the power of the optimization process. It has thus a higher similarity to the natural process of structure evolution than most other methods used in bionics, but at the same time complies with industrial approaches of product development. An example for this method is given in Chap. 11, where an offshore foundation has been developed on the basis of the ELiSE process. Preface vii

Most of the chapters contain results of the Helmholtz Virtual Institute Plankton- Tech, which integrated basic research on the biology of lightweight structures with approaches to transfer them to technical structures. We are very grateful for this substantial support by the Helmholtz Society. It is evident that the combination of basic research, applied research and technical realization presented here shows but a snapshot of the increasing tendency to use principles from nature to design clever, environmentally friendly and sustainable technical solutions. I hope it became vis- ible that only substantial effort, dedication, and interdisciplinary cooperation leads to progress in this field and I expect that similar constellations and projects will further improve both our knowledge on fascinating principles in nature and our ability to use them for our own benefit.

2015 Christian Hamm Bremerhaven Germany Structure and Function of Biological Systems as Inspiration for Technical Developments

Throughout evolution, organisms have evolved an immense variety of materials, structures, and systems. This book series deals with topics related to structure-function relationships in diverse biological systems and shows how knowledge from biology can be used for technical developments (bio-inspiration, biomimetics).

ix Contents

1 Protistan Skeletons: A Geologic History of Evolution and Constraint �� 1 Andrew H. Knoll and Benjamin Kotrc

2 Morphospaces and Databases: Diatom Diversification through Time �� 17 Benjamin Kotrc and Andrew H. Knoll

3 Biomineralization in Diatoms: The Organic Templates �� 39 H. Ehrlich and A. Witkowski

4 Mandibular Gnathobases of Marine Planktonic Copepods— Structural and Mechanical Challenges for Diatom Frustules �� 59 Jan Michels and Stanislav N. Gorb

5 Diatom Frustule Morphology and its Biomimetic Applications in Architecture and Industrial Design �� 75 Wiebe H. C. F. Kooistra and Göran Pohl

6 Fibre Reinforced Building Envelopes Inspired by Nature: Pavilion COCOON_FS �� 103 Göran Pohl

7 Biomimetic Engineering of Tailored, Ultra-Lightweight Fibrous Composites �� 123 Markus Milwich

8 Echinoderms: Hierarchically Organized Light Weight Skeletons �� 141 James H. Nebelsick, Janina F. Dynowski, Jan Nils Grossmann and Christian Tötzke

xi xii Contents

9 Review: The Functions of Phytoliths in Land Plants �� 157 Inga C. Keutmann, Björn Melzer, Robin Seidel, Ralf Thomann and Thomas Speck

10 The Influence of Silica on Bending Elastic Modulus of the Stalks of Two large Grass Species (Poaceae) �� 171 Inga C. Keutmann, Björn Melzer, Robin Seidel, Ralf Thomann and Thomas Speck

11 ELiSE—An Integrated, Holistic Bionic Approach to Develop Optimized Lightweight Solutions for Engineering, Architecture and Design �� 183 Christian Hamm and Sebastian Möller

12 Offshore Foundation Based on the ELiSE Method �� 195 Christian Hamm, Daniel Siegel, Nils Niebuhr, Piotr Jurkojc and Rene von der Hellen Contributors

Janina F. Dynowski Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart, Germany Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany H. Ehrlich TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany Stanislav N Gorb Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany Jan Nils Grossmann Institute of Zoology, Graduate Program: Bionics- Interactions across Boundaries to the Environment, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany Zentrum für Wissenschafts- und Technologietransfer, Hochschule Bonn-Rhein- Sieg, University of Applied Sciences, Grantham Allee, Augustin, Germany Christian Hamm Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany Rene von der Hellen Weserwind GmbH Offshore Construction Georgsmarienhütte GmbH, Bremerhaven, Germany WeserWind GmbH Offshore Construction Georgsmarienhütte, Bremerhaven, Germany Piotr Jurkojc Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany Inga C. Keutmann Plant Biomechanics Group, Botanic Garden of the Albert- Ludwig University, Faculty of Biology, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Andrew H. Knoll Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

xiii xiv Contributors

Wiebe H. C. F. Kooistra Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, Naples, NA, Italy Benjamin Kotrc Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA Sebastian Möller Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany Björn Melzer Plant Biomechanics Group, Botanic Garden of the Albert-Ludwig University, Faculty of Biology, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Jan Michels Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany Biological Oceanography, Geomar, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, Kiel, Germany Markus Milwich Institut für Textil-und Verfahrenstechnik Denkendorf, Denkendorf, Germany Hochschule Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany James H. Nebelsick Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Nils Niebuhr Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany Göran Pohl Faculteit Bouwkunde, Facade Research Group/office, TU Delft/Pohl Architekten, Erfurt, Germany Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment, Architectural Engineering + Technology, TU Delft, Delft, The Netherlands Robin Seidel Plant Biomechanics Group, Botanic Garden of the Albert-Ludwig University, Faculty of Biology, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Daniel Siegel Bionic Lightweight Constructions and Functional Morphology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany Thomas Speck Plant Biomechanics Group, Botanic Garden of the Albert-Ludwig University, Faculty of Biology, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF), Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Christian Tötzke Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy, Berlin, Germany Contributors xv

Ralf Thomann Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF) and Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Albert-Ludwig University, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany A. Witkowski TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland