BIOMIMETICS

Submitted By

M.SHARATH KUMAR RAJU (11311A2346)

B. Tech Biotechnology II Year II semester

DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY SREENIDHI INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOG

Y Yamnampet, Ghatkesar (M), R.R. Dist., Hyderabad -

501301.Andhra Pradesh, India.

May 2015

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr._____M.SHARATH KUMAR RAJU______________________bearing Roll No. 11311A2346_____________________________has submitted Techinical report entitled__BIOMIMITICS___________________ for B. tech (Biotechnology) III year II semester

Head Biotechnology

Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, HyderabadAccredited by NBA & AICTE and Permanently Affiliated to JNTUniversity, HyderabadDepartment of Biotechnology- Phone: 9396937949

SL .NO CONTENTS PAGE NO

1. Introduction 1

2. Background 2

3. General Principles 3

4. Designs 4-8

5. Conclusion 9

Index

Introduction

Biomimetic design attempt to understand the principles behind biological systems and use these principles in an architectural design. The objective is to employ biomimetics as a tool in architectural design and the aim of biomimetics in architecture is innovation. Innovation will help to solve current problems in architecture and environment, and new fields of architecture and design will be explored. Biomimetics in architecture will help develop a culture of active environmental design.

Biomimetics or biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.The terms biomimetics and biomimicry come from Ancient Greek: (bios), life, and (mīmēsis), imitation, from (mīmeisthai), to imitate, from (mimos), actor. A closely related field is bionics.

Living organisms have evolved well-adapted structures and materials over geological time through natural selection. Biomimetics has given rise to new technologies inspired by biological solutions at macro and nanoscales. Humans have looked at nature for answers to problems throughout our existence. Nature has solved engineering problems such as self-healing abilities, environmental exposure tolerance and resistance, hydrophobicity, self-assembly, and harnessing solar energy.

Background

One of the early examples of biomimicry was the study of birds to enable human flight. Although never successful in creating a "flying machine", Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was a keen observer of the anatomy and flight of birds, and made numerous notes and sketches on his observations as well as sketches of "flying machines". The Wright Brothers, who succeeded in flying the first heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903, derived inspiration from observations of pigeons in flight.

Biomimetics was coined by the American biophysicist and polymath Otto Schmitt during the 1950s.It was during his doctoral research that he developed the Schmitt trigger by studying the nerves in squid, attempting to engineer a device that replicated the biological system of nerve propagation. He continued to focus on devices that mimic natural systems and by 1957 he had perceived a converse to the standard view of biophysics at that time, a view he would come to call biomimetics.

In 1969 the term biomimetics was used by Schmitt to title one of his papers, and by 1974 it had found its way into Webster's Dictionary, bionics entered the same dictionary earlier in 1960 as "a science concerned with the application of data about the functioning of biological systems to the solution of engineering problems". Bionic took on a different connotation when Martin Caidin referenced Jack Steele and his work in the novel Cyborg which later resulted in the 1974 television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-offs. The term bionic then became associated with "the use of electronically operated artificial body parts" and "having ordinary human powers increased by or as if by the aid of such devices". Because the term bionic took on the implication of supernatural strength, the scientific community in English speaking countries largely abandoned it.

Designing

Architecture Materials Robets

BIOMIMICRY/BIMIMETICS: GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

Architecture

Eastgate centere,central Harare, Zimbabwe

Designing for thermal control

The Eastgate Centre's design is a deliberate move away from the "big glass block". Glass office blocks are typically expensive to maintain at a comfortable temperature, needing substantial heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. They tend to recycle air, in an attempt to keep the expensively conditioned atmosphere inside, leading to high levels of air pollution in the building. Artificial air-conditioning systems are high-maintenance, and Zimbabwe has the additional

problem that the original system and most spare parts have to be imported, squandering foreign exchange reserves.

Mick Pearce, the architect, therefore took an alternative approach. Because of its altitude, Harare has a temperate climate despite being in the tropics, and the typical daily temperature swing is 10 to 14 °C. This makes a mechanical or passive cooling system a viable alternative to artificial air-conditioning.

Passive cooling

Passive cooling works by storing heat in the day and venting it at night as temperatures drop.

Start of day: the building is cool. During day: machines and people generate heat, and the sun shines. Heat is

absorbed by the fabric of the building, which has a high heat capacity, so that the temperature inside increases but not greatly.

Evening: temperatures outside drop. The warm internal air is vented through chimneys, assisted by fans but also rising naturally because it is less dense, and drawing in denser cool air at the bottom of the building.

Night: this process continues, cold air flowing through cavities in the floor slabs until the building's fabric has reached the ideal temperature to start the next day.

Passively cooled, Eastgate uses only 10% of the energy needed by a similar conventionally cooled building.

Biomaterials

One major application of biomimetics is the field of biomaterials, which involves mimicking or synthesizing natural materials, and applying this to practical design. There are many examples of materials in nature that exhibit unique useful properties. One of the major advantages of biomaterials is that they are normally biodegradeable. In addition, the extreme temperatures and hazardous chemicals often used in manmade construction are usually unnecessary with natural alternatives.

Spider silk

Spider silk is one of the most sought after biomaterials, gaining a reputation as the “Holy Grail” of biomaterials. This material, produced by special glands in a spider’s body, has the advantage of being both light and flexible, and pound for pound is roughly three times stronger than steel: the tensile strength of the radial threads of spider silk is is 1,154 Mpa while steel is 400 Mpa. The web is composed of two types of silk, the major ampullate silk, which forms the dragline and web frame, and the viscid silk, which forms the glue-covered catching spiral.

For a flying insect to be caught, the spider’s web must slow its motion to a halt by absorbing kinetic energy. The force required to stop the insect’s motion is inversely proportional to the distance over which the motion must be stopped. The longer the distance over which the insect is slowed down, the smaller the force necessary to stop it, reducing the potential for damage to the web.

The incredible properties of spider silk are due to its unique molecular structure. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that the silk is composed of long amino acid chains that form protein crystals. The majority of silks also contain beta-pleated sheet crystals that form from tandemly repeated amino acid sequences rich in small amino acid residues. These amino acid sequences are composed of an 8-10 residue poly-alanine block and a 24-35 residue glycine-rich block. The resulting beta-sheet crystals crosslink the fibroins into a polymer network with great stiffness, strength and toughness. This crystalline component is embedded in a rubbery component that permits extensibility, composed of amorphous network chains 16-20 amino acid residues long6. It is this extensibility and tensile strength, combined with its light weight, that enable webs to prevent damage from wind and their anchoring points from being pulled off.

Robotics

A second application of biomimetics is the field of robotics. Animal models are being used as the inspiration for many different types of robots. Researchers closely study the mechanics of various animals, and then apply these observations to robot design. The goal is to develop a new class of biologically-inspired robots with greater performance in unstructured environments, able to respond to

changing environmental factors such as irregular terrain. Unlike traditional science fiction views of robots that closely resemble animals in outward appearance,

today’s researchers normally study one or more parts of an animal, in order to gain a working knowledge for a specific function. One example is to mimic the leg and joint structure of animals for use in robot mobility. A current collaboration among robotics and physiology researchers at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities involves modelling the joint and leg structure of the cockroach for the development of a hexapedal running robot. They studied the ground reaction forces in cockroach locomotion, the direction of these forces relative to the hip joints, and the different movements of the individual legs.

These researchers have used biomimicry of the cockroach, one of nature’s most successful species, to design and build sprawl-legged robots that can move very quickly (up to five body-lengths per second). In addition, these robots are very good at manoeuvring in changing terrain, and can continue forward motion when encountering hip-height obstacles or uphill and downhill slopes of up to 24 degrees. These types of small, fast robots could potentially be used for military reconnaissance, bomb defusion and de-mining expeditions.

The cockroach leg is a prime candidate for biomimicry

Biomimetic robots are even being considered by NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts for use in exploring the planet Mars. While these ideas are only in the brainstorming phase, many researchers believe that only robots designed based on insect models would be able to generate enough lift in Mars’ low-density atmosphere to take off, hover and land to explore the Red Planet. However, one must bear in mind that the fluid dynamics of small insects are very different from that of large robots. Since tiny organisms interact with their fluid environment at different Reynold’s numbers (a value indicating the viscosity of the fluid relative to the size of the organism), the air through which they fly is relatively more viscous than it would be for a larger organism, like swimming through molasses as opposed to water. As a result, one cannot be certain that a large scale model of insect flight would be able to interact with the air in the same way as a real insect to enable flight (this problem would also be worsened by the thin atmosphere on Mars).

Notable Bio mimicked Innovations from understanding nature

VelcroGecko tape Lotus effect self cleaning surfacesDrag reduction by shark skinPlatelet technology for pipe repairSmart fabric

Conclusion

Biomimetics or biomimicry is a useful tool in the design process. In its current incarnation it allows present and future designers a modern approach to the ancient practice of imitating nature.

References

L.H.Shu, T.A.Lenau, H.N.Hansen, L.Alting: Biomimetics applied to centeringin micro-assembly, CIRP-annals 2003, vol 52/1/2003, p.101-104.

Torben Lenau, Michael Barfoed and Li Shu: Challenges in biomimetic design and innovation, Poster at the conference 'Bioinspired Nanotechnologies for Smarter Products', 20th - 21st March 2007 at the Society of Chemical Industry, London, organised by The Institute of Nanotechnology.

Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Material Innovation - inspired by nature, Danish Metallurgical Society - Annual Winter Meeting, Middelfart 10-12 January 2007, 10 pages.

Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Teknisk udvikling med inspiration i naturen, Teknisk Nyt Special, Nr. 5a, Vol. 14, April 2007, p.25-26.

Torben Lenau and Michael Barfoed: Colours and metallic sheen in beetle shells- a biomimetic search for material structuring principles causing light interference, Journal of Advanced Engineering Materials, vol.10, no. 4, 2008, 299-314, DOI: 10.1002/adem.200700346.

Torben Lenau, Hyunmin Cheong and Li Shu: Sensing in nature - using biomimetics for design of sensors, Sensor Review, Vol 28-4, 2008, p.311-316.

Bionik - med naturen som forbillede (Biomimetics - with nature as a role model), Danmarks Radio p1 Videnskabens Verden 4. oktober 2008 16-17, can be heard or pod-casted from http://dr.dk/P1/Videnskabensverden/Udsendelser/2008/10/07101057.htm (in Danish)

Torben Lenau: Biomimetics – new and improved solutions inspired by nature, Invited viewpoint article, Sensor Review, Vol.29-2, 2009, p.96.

Lenau, T. (2009) Biomimetics as a design methodology – possibilities and challenges, International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED'09 24 - 27 august 2009, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

Torben Lenau: Approaches to mimic the metallic sheen in beetles, SPIE Optics & Photonics - The Biomimetics and Bioinspiration conference, 2-6 August 2009, San Diego, USA.

Torben Lenau: Materialevalg med inspiration i naturen, Præsentation på Materialedagen 2010, Dansk Selskab for Materialeprøvning og -Forskning (DSM), DTU 22 april 2010.

T. Lenau, A. Dentel, Þ. Ingvarsdóttir and T. Guðlaugsson: Engineering Design of an Adaptive Leg Prosthesis Using Biological Principles, International Design Conference - Design 2010 Dubrovnik - Croatia, May 17 - 20, 2010

Lenau, T.(2010) Inspiration i naturen, Inviteret artikel til til 'Akademisk kvarter' i temanummer om materialer i INFORM 0310, udgivet af Danske Designere, sommer 2010, s.30.

Lenau, T. A.; Cheong, H.; Shu, L. (2010) Sensing in nature: using biomimetics for design of sensors, Measurement and Control 43.2:58-61 (Awarded best paper of the year)

Lenau, T.: Naturen som den bedste materialeekspert, Dansk Design Center 16. nov 2010

Lenau, T.and Mejborn, C.O. (2011) Solving Global Problems Using Collaborative Design Processes, International Conference for Engineering Design, ICED11 15 - 18 August 2011, Technical University of Denmark

Lenau, T., Helten, K., Hepperle, C., Schenkl, S. and Lindemann, U. (2011) Reducing Cinsequences of Car Collision Using Inspiration from Nature, IASDR2011 4th World Conference on Design Research, Delft The Netherlands, 31 October-4 November 2011.

Lenau, T. (2012) Nature inspired structural colour applications, In: Biomimetic in Photonics, ed. Olaf Karthaus, CRC Press p. 72-96 (Series in Optics and optoelectronics).

Lenau T.& Hesselberg, T. (2013) Self-organising and self-healing within biomimetics, in: Engineered biomimicry, ed. by Akhlesh Lakhtakia and Raúl-José Martín-Palma, Elsevier (p.333-358).

Keshwani S., Lenau T., Ahmed-Kristensen, S. and Chakrabarti, A.: Benchmarking bio-inspired designs with brainstorming in terms of Novelty of design outcomes, ICED13 conference, Seoul Korea August 2013 (Reviewers Choise Award).