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Failure mode transition in natural mineralizedcomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Reza Rabiei ,
Sacheen Bekah  and
Francois Barthelat
Reza Rabiei
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6 Canada
Sacheen Bekah
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6 Canada
Francois Barthelat
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6 Canada
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Abstract

Mineralized biological materials such as nacre and bone achieve remarkablecombinations of stiffness and toughness through staggered arrangements ofstiff components bonded by softer materials. These natural composites aretherefore substantial source of inspiration for emerging syntheticmaterials. In order to gain new insights into structureperformancerelationships of these staggered structures, nacres from four species werecompared in terms of fracture toughness and damage propagation pattern.Fracture tests revealed that all nacres display rising crack resistancecurves, but to different extents. Using in-situ optical and atomic forcemicroscopy, two distinct patterns of damage propagation were identified incolumnar and sheet nacre respectively. These two different patterns werefurther confirmed by means of large scale numerical models of staggeredstructures. Similar mechanisms possibly operate at the smallest scales ofthe microstructure of bone.

Keywords

microstructurefracturebiological

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