Detectando design inteligente na natureza: mecanismos de proteção da armadura rígida de um gastrópode de fontes hidrotermais do fundo do mar

Protection mechanisms of the iron-plated armor of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent gastropod

Haimin Yao^a, 

Ming Dao^a, 

Timothy Imholt^b, 

Jamie Huang^a, 

Kevin Wheeler^a, 

Alejandro Bonilla^c, 

Subra Suresh^a, and 

Christine Ortiz^a,¹

-Author Affiliations

1. ^aDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139;
   
   
2. 
   
   ^bRaytheon, Inc., 1001 Boston Post Road, Marlboro, MA 01752; and
   
   
3. 
   
   ^cAsylum Research, Inc., 6310 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93117
   
   Communicated by John D. Joannopoulos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, November 10, 2009 (received for review September 16, 2009)
   

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   http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/snail_2_h.jpg

   
   Abstract
   
   
   

Biological exoskeletons, in particular those with unusually robust and multifunctional properties, hold enormous potential for the development of improved load-bearing and protective engineering materials. Here, we report new materials and mechanical design principles of the iron-plated multilayered structure of the natural armor of Crysomallon squamiferum, a recently discovered gastropod mollusc from the Kairei Indian hydrothermal vent field, which is unlike any other known natural or synthetic engineered armor. We have determined through nanoscale experiments and computational simulations of a predatory attack that the specific combination of different materials, microstructures, interfacial geometries, gradation, and layering are advantageous for penetration resistance, energy dissipation, mitigation of fracture and crack arrest, reduction of back deflections, and resistance to bending and tensile loads. The structure-property-performance relationships described are expected to be of technological interest for a variety of civilian and defense applications.

• exoskeleton
 
• mollusc
 
• biomechanics
 
• nanomechanics
• nanoindentation

Footnotes

• ¹To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cortiz@mit.edu.
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  Author contributions: C.O., H.Y., M.D., T.I., A.B., and S.S. designed research; H.Y., M.D., J.H., K.W., and A.B. performed research; C.O., H.Y., M.D., T.I., A.B., and S.S. analyzed data; and C.O., H.Y., M.D., T.I., and S.S. wrote the paper.
  
  The authors declare no conflict of interest.
  
• This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0912988107/DCSupplemental.
  
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