New Bone-Inspired Materials Offer Tunable And Light Weight Stiffness

Jul, 2022 - By SMI

Researchers designed new implants and parts of engine based on bone and other natural materials offering some useful features

Researchers are developing various technologies inspired by nature. Similarly a team of researchers at Princeton University and Georgia Tech developed new materials designed to mimic wood, bone and other natural materials. These new porous objects are lighter than conventional products and can be inserted into structures for providing higher stiffness in sectors with high demand such as surgical implants and airplanes.

This new material reportedly features spinodal microstructures. These microscopic holes are modeled based on various types of pores that are found in natural materials such as animal horns, bone, and wood taking on shapes such as diamonds, sphere, or columns for best performance. The size, shape, and orientation of pores inside the structures could be easily tuned to get stiffness in specific directions or to control the weight or density of the material.

The team of scientists tested the potential of these materials as they designed and 3D printed a prototype facial implant from a photopolymer resin. The implant features pores carefully shaped similar to lentils and columns, where due to its stiffness it endured the chewing forces and the holes promoted bone growth and healing as they facilitated the flow of body fluids. As the geometry of these implants can be tuned finely, they can be developed from various materials.

Furthermore, the researchers also used the spinodal microstructures to develop a robust and lightweight version of a jet engine bracket that maintains the place of engine on an aircraft. According to the scientists, these materials called architected materials can seamlessly transition between various microstructures in one object, which makes them potential and string along with having the stiffness and other features to be finely tuned.