Bar-On Benny, Barth Friedrich G, Fratzl Peter, Politi Yael
Department of Biomaterial, Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam 14424, Germany.
Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria.
Nat Commun. 2014 May 27;5:3894. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4894.
The spider fang is a natural injection needle, hierarchically built from a complex composite material comprising multiscale architectural gradients. Considering its biomechanical function, the spider fang has to sustain significant mechanical loads. Here we apply experiment-based structural modelling of the fang, followed by analytical mechanical description and Finite-Element simulations, the results of which indicate that the naturally evolved fang architecture results in highly adapted effective structural stiffness and damage resilience. The analysis methods and physical insights of this work are potentially important for investigating and understanding the architecture and structural motifs of sharp-edge biological elements such as stingers, teeth, claws and more.
蜘蛛的毒牙是一种天然注射针，由包含多尺度结构梯度的复杂复合材料分层构建而成。考虑到其生物力学功能，蜘蛛毒牙必须承受巨大的机械负荷。在此，我们对毒牙进行了基于实验的结构建模，随后进行了分析力学描述和有限元模拟，结果表明，自然进化的毒牙结构导致了高度适应的有效结构刚度和损伤恢复能力。这项工作的分析方法和物理见解对于研究和理解诸如螫针、牙齿、爪子等尖锐边缘生物元素的结构和结构模式可能具有重要意义。
