Y.G. Zhao

Nanomechanical Behaviour of the Membranous Wings of Dragonfly Pantala flavescens Fabricius

The dragonfly has excellent flying capacity and its wings are typical 2-dimensional composite materials in micro-scale or nano-scale. The nanomechanical behavior of dragonfly membranous wings was investigated with a nanoindenter. It was shown that the maxima of the reduced modulus and nanohardness of the in-vivo and fresh dragonfly wings are about at position of 0.7L, where L is the wing length. It was found that the reduced modulus and nanohardness of radius of the wings of dragonfly are large. The reduced modulus and nanohardness of Costa, Radius and Postal veins of the in-vivo dragonfly wings are larger than those of the fresh ones. The deformation, stress and strain under the uniform load were analyzed with finite element simulation software ANSYS. The deformation is little and the distribution trend of the strain is probably in agreement with that of the stress. It is shown that the main veins have better stabilities and load-bearing capacities. The understanding of dragonfly wings’ nanomechanical properties would provide some references for improving some properties of 2-dimentional composite materials through the biomimetic designs. The realization of nanomechanical properties of dragonfly wings will provide inspirations for designing some new structures and materials of mechanical parts.

Research on Biomimetic Models and Nanomechanical Behaviour of Membranous Wings of Chinese Bee Apis cerana cerana Fabricius

The structures combining the veins and membranes of membranous wings of the Chinese bee Apis cerana cerana Fabricius into a whole have excellent load-resisting capacity. The membranous wings of Chinese bees were taken as research objects and the mechanical properties of a biomimetic model of membranous wings as targets. In order to understand and learn from the biosystem and then make technical innovation, the membranous wings of Chinese bees were simulated and analysed with reverse engineering and finite element method. The deformations and stress states of the finite element model of membranous wings were researched under the concentrated force, uniform load, and torque. It was found that the whole model deforms evenly and there are no unusual deformations arising. The displacements and deformations are small and transform uniformly. It was indicated that the veins and membranes combine well into a whole to transmit loads effectively, which illustrates the membranous wings of Chinese bees having excellent integral mechanical behaviour and structure stiffness. The realization of structure models of the membranous wings of Chinese bees and analysis of the relativity of structures and performances or functions will provide an inspiration for designing biomimetic thin-film materials with superior load-bearing capacity.