Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, People's Republic of China.
IET Nanobiotechnol. 2020 Jun;14(4):281-288. doi: 10.1049/iet-nbt.2019.0297.
Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) fish skin is an excellent natural material with remarkable mechanical properties owing to the unique structures of the helical stacking fibres. In this work, the authors studied the potential role of the sturgeon fish skin in the protective function through testing and analysed the structural features and mechanical properties of the stratum compactum in the fish skin. Scanning electron microscopy images of the sturgeon fish skin revealed that the skin was primarily composed of the stratum compactum. The stratum compactum was characterised by the helically arranged fibre structures and the helical-ply angle decreased from the anterior region of the fish body to the posterior region. Mechanical tests containing tension and penetration experiments demonstrated that the stratum compactum provided the sturgeon fish skin the capability to effectively resist bite and laceration by predators. Furthermore, the experimental results also confirmed that the sturgeon fish skin showed two distinct mechanisms against tension and penetration. These findings may provide a novel biomimetic design template for both flexible and tough body armour.
中华鲟（Acipenser sinensis）鱼皮是一种具有优异机械性能的天然材料，这归因于其螺旋堆叠纤维的独特结构。在这项工作中，作者通过测试研究了中华鲟鱼皮在保护功能方面的潜在作用，并分析了鱼皮的密质层的结构特征和机械性能。中华鲟鱼皮的扫描电子显微镜图像显示，鱼皮主要由密质层组成。密质层的特点是螺旋排列的纤维结构，并且螺旋层角从鱼体的前部向后部逐渐减小。包含拉伸和穿透实验的机械测试表明，密质层使中华鲟鱼皮具有有效抵抗捕食者咬伤和撕裂的能力。此外，实验结果还证实，中华鲟鱼皮对拉伸和穿透表现出两种截然不同的机制。这些发现可能为柔韧和坚韧的防弹衣提供一种新颖的仿生设计模板。
