Why is Structural Hierarchy So Prevalent in Biological Materials?

Michel, Jonathan; Yunker, Peter J.

Title:

Why is Structural Hierarchy So Prevalent in Biological Materials?

dc.contributor.author	Michel, Jonathan
dc.contributor.author	Yunker, Peter J.
dc.contributor.corporatename	Georgia Institute of Technology. Center for the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials and Interfaces	en_US
dc.contributor.corporatename	Georgia Institute of Technology. School of Physics	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2018-06-05T15:46:56Z
dc.date.available	2018-06-05T15:46:56Z
dc.date.issued	2018-04-19
dc.description	Presented at the Symposium on Soft Matter Forefronts "Contributed Talks", April 19, 2018, from 2:00 p.m.-2:50 p.m. at the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Rooms 1116-1118, Georgia Tech.	en_US
dc.description	Chairs: Kazem Edmond (Exxon) & Alex Alexeev (Georgia Tech).	en_US
dc.description	Jonathan Michel and Professor Peter Yunker are with the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Physics.	en_US
dc.description	Runtime: 10:33 minutes	en_US
dc.description.abstract	Structural hierarchy, in which materials possess distinct features on multiple length scales, is ubiquitous in nature. Many biological materials, such as bone, cellulose, and muscle, have as many as ten hierarchical levels. While structural hierarchy confers many mechanical advantages, including improved toughness and economy of material, it also presents a problem as each hierarchical level substantially increases the amount of information necessary for proper assembly. This seems to conflict with the broad prevalence of naturally occurring hierarchical structures. At the present, there is no general framework for understanding the interplay between structures on disparate length scales; such a framework is a critical tool for accounting for the robustness of hierarchical materials to defects. Here, we use simulations and experiments to validate a generalized model for the tensile stiffness of hierarchical, stretching-stabilized networks with a nested, dilute hexagonal lattice structure, and demonstrate that the stiffness of such networks becomes less sensitive to errors in assembly with additional levels of hierarchy. Following seminal work by Maxwell and others on criteria for stiff frames, we extend the concept of connectivity in network mechanics, and find a similar dependence of material stiffness upon each hierarchical level. More broadly, this work helps account for the success of hierarchical, filamentous materials in biology and materials design, and offers a heuristic for ensuring that desired material properties are achieved within the required tolerance.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Georgia Institute of Technology. College of Sciences	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Georgia Institute of Technology. Institute for Materials	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Georgia Institute of Technology. Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Georgia Institute of Technology. School of Materials Science and Engineering	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Georgia Institute of Technology. School of Physics	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	American Physical Society	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	Exxon Mobil Corporation	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	National Science Foundation (U.S.)	en_US
dc.format.extent	10:33 minutes
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1853/59984
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.publisher	Georgia Institute of Technology	en_US
dc.subject	Soft matter	en_US
dc.subject	Stiff frames	en_US
dc.subject	Structural hierarchy	en_US
dc.title	Why is Structural Hierarchy So Prevalent in Biological Materials?	en_US
dc.type	Moving Image
dc.type.genre	Lecture
dspace.entity.type	Publication
local.contributor.author	Yunker, Peter J.
local.contributor.corporatename	Soft Matter Incubator
local.contributor.corporatename	Center for the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials and Interfaces
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