Flexibility and protection by design: imbricated hybrid microstructures of bio-inspired armor.

otection by design: imbricated hybrid microstructures of bio-inspired armor

Stability of hard plates on soft substrates and application to the design of bioinspired segmented armor

Flexible natural armors from fish, alligators or armadillo are attracting an increasing amount of attention from their unique and attractive combinations of hardness, flexibility and light weight. In particular, the extreme contrast of stiffness between hard plates and surrounding soft tissues give rise to unusual and attractive mechanisms, which now serve as model for the design of bio-inspire...

Fabrication, testing and modeling of a new flexible armor inspired from natural fish scales and osteoderms.

Crocodiles, armadillo, turtles, fish and many other animal species have evolved flexible armored skins in the form of hard scales or osteoderms, which can be described as hard plates of finite size embedded in softer tissues. The individual hard segments provide protection from predators, while the relative motion of these segments provides the flexibility required for efficient locomotion. In ...

Ballistic Performance of Hybrid Armor with Ceramic Inserts and Polymeric Matrix for Different Threat Levels (TECHNICAL NOTE)

  Ceramic materials due to their high compressive strength and hardness have been one of prime candidates in armor design in particular when high level threads (impact velocity above 600m/s) are involved. The aim of this work is to investigate ballistic impact resistance potential for a target plate with novel ceramic inserts as against ceramic tiles. Two size 98% alumina (AL2O3) base ceramic i...

Highly deformable bones: unusual deformation mechanisms of seahorse armor.

Multifunctional materials and devices found in nature serve as inspiration for advanced synthetic materials, structures and robotics. Here, we elucidate the architecture and unusual deformation mechanisms of seahorse tails that provide prehension as well as protection against predators. The seahorse tail is composed of subdermal bony plates arranged in articulating ring-like segments that overl...