Marte Tino, Koltsakidis Savvas, Profitiliotis Thomas, Tzimtzimis Emmanouil, Tzetzis Dimitrios
Digital Manufacturing and Materials Characterization Laboratory, School of Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Biomimetics-Innovation-Centre (B-I-C), School of Nature and Engineering, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, 28199 Bremen, Germany.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2025 Jun 13;10(6):400. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics10060400.
While early studies on macroscopic self-assembly peaked in the late 20th century, recent research continues to explore and expand the field's potential through innovative materials and external control strategies. To harness this potential, a unit cell was designed and 3D-printed that could form a face-centered cubic lattice and stabilize it through a biomimetic mechanism for mechanical interlocking. The wing coupling structures of the brown marmorated stink bug were examined under a scanning electron microscope to be used as a source of bio-inspiration for the interlocking mechanism. A total of 20 unit cells were studied in five different self-assembly processes and in different compression scenarios. A maximum average of 34% of unit cells remained stable, and 20% were mechanically interlocked after self-assembly tests. The compression tests performed on a single unit cell revealed that the cell can withstand forces up to 1000 N without any plastic deformation. Pyramid configurations from 5-unit cells were manually assembled and assessed in compression tests. They showed an average compression force of 294 N. As the first study focused on self-assembly through mechanical interlocking, further studies that change the unit cell production and self-assembly processes are expected to improve upon these results.
虽然关于宏观自组装的早期研究在20世纪末达到顶峰，但最近的研究仍在通过创新材料和外部控制策略继续探索和扩展该领域的潜力。为了利用这一潜力，设计并3D打印了一种晶胞，它可以形成面心立方晶格，并通过机械互锁的仿生机制使其稳定。在扫描电子显微镜下检查了褐飞虱的翅耦合结构，将其用作互锁机制的生物灵感来源。在五个不同的自组装过程和不同的压缩场景中对总共20个晶胞进行了研究。自组装测试后，平均最多有34%的晶胞保持稳定，20%通过机械互锁。对单个晶胞进行的压缩测试表明，该晶胞能够承受高达1000 N的力而无任何塑性变形。对由5个晶胞组成的金字塔构型进行了手动组装并在压缩测试中进行了评估。它们显示出平均压缩力为294 N。作为第一项专注于通过机械互锁进行自组装的研究，预计进一步改变晶胞生产和自组装过程的研究将改进这些结果。
