Laser-based bionic manufacturing

Over millions of years of natural evolution,organisms have developed nearly perfect structures and functions.The self-fabrication of organisms serves as a valuable source of inspiration for designing the next-generation of structural materials,and is driving the future paradigm shift of modern materials science and engineering.However,the complex structures and multifunctional integrated optimization of organisms far exceed the capability of artificial design and fabrication technology,and new manufacturing methods are urgently needed to achieve efficient reproduction of biological functions.As one of the most valuable advanced manufacturing technologies of the 21st century,laser processing technology provides an efficient solution to the critical challenges of bionic manufacturing.This review outlines the processing principles,manufacturing strategies,potential applications,challenges,and future development outlook of laser processing in bionic manufacturing domains.Three primary manufacturing strategies for laser-based bionic manufacturing are elucidated:subtractive manufacturing,equivalent manufacturing,and additive manufacturing.The progress and trends in bionic subtractive manufacturing applied to micro/nano structural surfaces,bionic equivalent manufacturing for surface strengthening,and bionic additive manufacturing aiming to achieve bionic spatial structures,are reported.Finally,the key problems faced by laser-based bionic manufacturing,its limitations,and the development trends of its existing technologies are discussed.

A novel dandelion-based bionic proppant and its transportation mechanism in different types of fractures

Low-permeability reservoirs are generally characterized by low porosity and low permeability.Obtaining high production using the traditional method is technologically challenging because it yields a low reservoir recovery factor.In recent years,hydraulic fracturing technology is widely applied for efficiently exploiting and developing low-permeability reservoirs using a low-viscosity fluid as a fracturing fluid.However,the transportation of the proppant is inefficient in the low-viscosity fluid,and the proppant has a low piling-up height in fracture channels.These key challenges restrict the fluid(natural gas or oil)flow in fracture channels and their functional flow areas,reducing the profits of hydrocarbon exploitation.This study aimed to explore and develop a novel dandelion-bionic proppant by modifying the surface of the proppant and the fiber.Its structure was similar to that of dandelion seeds,and it had high transport and stacking efficiency in low-viscosity liquids compared with the traditional proppant.Moreover,the transportation efficiency of this newly developed proppant was investigated experimentally using six different types of fracture models(tortuous fracture model,rough fracture model,narrow fracture model,complex fracture model,large-scale single fracture model,and small-scale single fracture model).Experimental results indicated that,compared with the traditional proppant,the transportation efficiency and the packing area of the dandelion-based bionic proppant significantly improved in tap water or low-viscosity fluid.Compared with the traditional proppant,the dandelionbased bionic proppant had 0.1-4 times longer transportation length,0.3-5 times higher piling-up height,and 2-10 times larger placement area.The newly developed proppant also had some other extraordinary features.The tortuosity of the fracture did not influence the transportation of the novel proppant.This proppant could easily enter the branch fracture and narrow fracture with a high packing area in rough surface fractures.Based on the aforementioned characteristics,this novel proppant technique could improve the proppant transportation efficiency in the low-viscosity fracturing fluid and increase the ability of the proppant to enter the secondary fracture.This study might provide a new solution for effectively exploiting low-permeability hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Bionic lightweight design of limb leg units for hydraulic quadruped robots by additive manufacturing and topology optimization

Galloping cheetahs,climbing mountain goats,and load hauling horses all show desirable locomotion capability,which motivates the development of quadruped robots.Among various quadruped robots,hydraulically driven quadruped robots show great potential in unstructured environments due to their discrete landing positions and large payloads.As the most critical movement unit of a quadruped robot,the limb leg unit(LLU)directly affects movement speed and reliability,and requires a compact and lightweight design.Inspired by the dexterous skeleton–muscle systems of cheetahs and humans,this paper proposes a highly integrated bionic actuator system for a better dynamic performance of an LLU.We propose that a cylinder barrel with multiple element interfaces and internal smooth channels is realized using metal additive manufacturing,and hybrid lattice structures are introduced into the lightweight design of the piston rod.In addition,additive manufacturing and topology optimization are incorporated to reduce the redundant material of the structural parts of the LLU.The mechanical properties of the actuator system are verified by numerical simulation and experiments,and the power density of the actuators is far greater than that of cheetah muscle.The mass of the optimized LLU is reduced by 24.5%,and the optimized LLU shows better response time performance when given a step signal,and presents a good trajectory tracking ability with the increase in motion frequency.

Design and additive manufacturing of bionic hybrid structure inspired by cuttlebone to achieve superior mechanical properties and shape memory function

Lightweight porous materials with high load-bearing,damage tolerance and energy absorption(EA)as well as intelligence of shape recovery after material deformation are beneficial and critical for many applications,e.g.aerospace,automobiles,electronics,etc.Cuttlebone produced in the cuttlefish has evolved vertical walls with the optimal corrugation gradient,enabling stress homogenization,significant load bearing,and damage tolerance to protect the organism from high external pressures in the deep sea.This work illustrated that the complex hybrid wave shape in cuttlebone walls,becoming more tortuous from bottom to top,creates a lightweight,load-bearing structure with progressive failure.By mimicking the cuttlebone,a novel bionic hybrid structure(BHS)was proposed,and as a comparison,a regular corrugated structure and a straight wall structure were designed.Three types of designed structures have been successfully manufactured by laser powder bed fusion(LPBF)with NiTi powder.The LPBF-processed BHS exhibited a total porosity of 0.042% and a good dimensional accuracy with a peak deviation of 17.4μm.Microstructural analysis indicated that the LPBF-processed BHS had a strong(001)crystallographic orientation and an average size of 9.85μm.Mechanical analysis revealed the LPBF-processed BHS could withstand over 25000 times its weight without significant deformation and had the highest specific EA value(5.32 J·g^(−1))due to the absence of stress concentration and progressive wall failure during compression.Cyclic compression testing showed that LPBF-processed BHS possessed superior viscoelastic and elasticity energy dissipation capacity.Importantly,the uniform reversible phase transition from martensite to austenite in the walls enables the structure to largely recover its pre-deformation shape when heated(over 99% recovery rate).These design strategies can serve as valuable references for the development of intelligent components that possess high mechanical efficiency and shape memory capabilities.

Proximal Femur Bionic Nail (PFBN): A Panacea for Unstable Intertrochanteric Femur Fracture

With the aging population,intertrochanteric femur fracture in the elderly has become one of the most serious public health issues and a hot topic of research in trauma orthopedics.Due to the limitations of internal fixation techniques and the insufficient mechanical design of nails,the occurrence of complications delays patient recovery after surgical treatment.Design of a proximal femur bionic nail(PFBN)based on Zhang’s N triangle theory provides triangular supporting fixation,which dramatically decreases the occurrence of complications and has been widely used for clinical treatment of unstable intertrochanteric femur fracture worldwide.In this work,we developed an equivalent biomechanical model to analyze improvement in bone remodeling of unstable intertrochanteric femur fracture through PFBN use.The results show that compared with proximal femoral nail antirotation(PFNA)and InterTan,PFBN can dramatically decrease the maximum strain in the proximal femur.Based on Frost’s mechanostat theory,the local mechanical environment in the proximal femur can be regulated into the medium overload region by using a PFBN,which may render the proximal femur in a state of physiological overload,favoring post-operative recovery of intertrochanteric femur fracture in the elderly.This work shows that PFBN may constitute a panacea for unstable intertrochanteric femur fracture and provides insights into improving methods of internal fixation.

Study on Aerodynamic Performance of Wind Turbine Airfoil Synthesized by Mean Camber Line Superposition Thickness between Bionic and Traditional Airfoil Bionic and Traditional Airfoil

The aerodynamic performance of wind turbine needs to be improved day by day.In this paper,the bionic airfoil of wind turbine and the traditional airfoil are combined to optimize the aerodynamic performance.The new airfoil is synthesized by the method of the mean camber line superposition thickness synthesis.The flow field characteristics of 4 synthetic airfoils were calculated by using the numerical simulation of CFD commercial software Fluent,and compared with 3 original airfoils,new airfoils of different shapes were obtained,and an incomplete synthetic parameterization method for airfoils optimization was proved,which has certain engineering practical value.

Experimental study on reinforcement of bionic grouser of deep-sea mining vehicle

To fulfill the operational demands of deep-sea tracked mining vehicles traversing soft seabed substrates,an evaluation of the characteristics of these substrates was conducted,drawing a comparison with the land swamp black soil found in the buffalo's habitat.Employing the principles of biomimicry,two distinct types of bionic grouser were devised,replicating the configuration of the buffalo's hooves in both the horizontal and vertical planes.Utilizing self-constructed testing platforms,exhaustive examinations of the reinforcement efficacy of these bionic track grousers were undertaken,spanning from single-grouser to multi-grouser configurations and encompassing the entire track assembly.The findings unequivocally demonstrate a pronounced and consistent enhancement in traction force for both types of bionic grousers.Notably,the W-shaped bionic grouser,mimicking the horizontal contour of the buffalo's hoof,exhibits the most substantial increase in traction force.The maximum enhancement in traction force for individual bionic grouser exceeds 30%,while the overall track achieves an increase of over 19%.This research provides a valuable reference and establishes a foundational framework for the design of equipment tailored for the locomotion of deep-sea tracked mining vehicles across soft substrates.

静电纺丝聚偏氟乙烯压电仿生骨膜的生物相容性评价

背景:课题组前期研究发现,静电纺丝聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜具有良好的细胞相容性,但其生物相容性尚不清楚。目的:评价掺Zn2+、Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜的生物相容性。方法:取前期研究采用静电纺丝技术制备的聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Zn2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Zn2++1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜,制备各组仿生骨膜浸提液,选择SD大鼠为实验对象,进行溶血实验、短期全身毒性实验、热源实验,选择豚鼠为实验对象,进行皮肤致敏实验,检测4组仿生骨膜的生物相容性。结果与结论:①溶血实验结果显示,掺1%Zn2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Zn2++1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜及聚偏氟乙烯浸提液的溶血率分别为(0.130±0.013)%,(0.149±0.020)%,(0.466±0.018)%,(0.037±0.018)%,符合生物材料血液相容性性标准;②短期全身毒性实验结果显示,4组仿生骨膜浸提液灌胃干预后未引起SD大鼠体质量减轻、摄食量变化及呼吸困难等毒性体征,对大鼠的主要脏器无毒性作用;③热源实验结果显示,掺1%Zn2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯、掺1%Zn2++1%Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯及聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜浸提液干预后,SD大鼠体温升高值分别为(0.133±0.058),(0.100±0.010),(0.300±0.010),(0.300±0.017)℃,均小于0.6℃,体温升高度数总和均小于1.4℃;④皮肤致敏实验结果显示,4组仿生骨膜浸提液干预后豚鼠皮下未见红斑与水肿。结果表明:聚偏氟乙烯与掺Zn2+、Mg2+聚偏氟乙烯仿生骨膜具有良好的生物相容性。

抗纤维化与促“H”型血管核壳结构生物支架修复临界骨缺损

背景:在骨组织愈合过程中,促进新生骨的血管化是加速骨组织修复的常用策略,然而骨缺损修复过程中过快的纤维化进程常常被忽略。目的:设计并制备一种具有调节新生骨痂内纤维化及血管化进程的核壳结构仿生支架,表征其物理学特征,验证其体内外抗纤维化与促成骨性能。方法:制备具有调节新生骨痂内纤维化及血管化进程的核壳结构仿生支架,外层壳结构由聚己内酯静电纺丝纳米纤维负载成纤维细胞活化蛋白抑制剂组成,内层核结构由甲基丙烯酸酐明胶水凝胶负载去铁胺组成,表征静电纺丝和水凝胶的物理学特征,利用活死染色与CCK-8实验验证材料的生物相容性。通过成纤维细胞体外实验分析支架壳结构的抗纤维化作用,通过MC3T3-E1细胞体外实验分析支架壳结构中成纤维细胞活化蛋白抑制剂的促成骨作用,通过人脐静脉内皮细胞分析支架核结构中去铁胺的促血管形成作用。通过大鼠临界骨缺损实验评估核壳结构仿生支架的骨修复作用。结果与结论:①核壳结构仿生支架具有良好的生物相容性,静电纺丝技术制备的聚己内酯电纺纤维具有疏水性,在物理层面上有效阻隔外源性纤维组织长入,电纺纤维膜在2周内可有效释放抗纤维化药物成纤维细胞活化蛋白抑制剂,释放的抗纤维化药物可以抑制骨缺损周围成纤维细胞的生长、黏附,有效降低成纤维相关蛋白的表达,同时可促进MC3T3-E1细胞成骨蛋白的表达,加快其矿化速度;支架核结构中的去铁胺可促进人脐静脉内皮细胞的迁移、成管能力,并促进其强烈表达“H”血管特征性蛋白。②在SD大鼠的股骨制造临界骨缺损模型中,相较于聚己内酯膜,核壳结构仿生支架实现了骨缺损的有效修复。③结果表明,核壳结构仿生支架在预防骨痂过度纤维化的同时促进新生骨痂内“H”血管形成,能有效避免骨不连的发生,加速临界骨缺损修复进程。

骨组织工程中传统与仿生支架结构设计的差异

背景:多孔支架作为新骨生长的临时基质在骨修复过程中起着关键作用,其中多孔支架的结构设计是骨修复过程中的研究重点。目的:综述传统支架(规则、均匀的支架)和仿生支架(不规则、不均匀的支架)在骨组织工程研究领域的应用。方法:检索中国知网(CNKI)、维普、万方、Web of Science、Science Direct、PubMed、EI等数据库,选取2008年1月至2024年3月发表的文献,中文检索词为“骨组织工程,仿生支架,骨小梁,传统支架,骨修复,三周期极小曲面”,英文检索词为“bone tissue engineering,bionic scaffolds,bone trabeculae,traditional scaffolds,bone repair,TPMS”。最终纳入81篇文献进行综述。结果与结论:骨支架的结构设计是实现骨修复和骨再生的关键,骨组织工程中的支架技术已取得显著进展。传统的规则多孔支架因简单的制造流程和良好的机械性能被广泛应用,然而这类支架往往缺乏生物活性,难以模拟自然骨组织的复杂微环境,限制了其在促进细胞增殖和骨再生方面的能力。相反,仿生支架通过模拟自然骨组织的结构特征,提供了更适宜的生理微环境,促进了成骨细胞的增殖、分化及新骨的形成,为骨缺损有效治疗提供了新的思路。尽管仿生支架在理论上具有巨大的潜力,但在实际应用中仍面临诸多挑战,支架的生物相容性、生物活性及长期稳定性等因素仍需通过临床试验进行进一步验证。

基于仿生机构学落地红枣聚拢装置的设计与试验

针对南疆地区目前落地红枣无法聚集、人工捡拾效率低、机械化程度不高等问题,在分析枣树种植模式及红枣物料特性的基础上,采用仿人手臂聚集红枣的方法设计了一种快速聚拢装置,并确定了各零部件的结构参数。利用三维建模软件SolidWorks与运动学仿真软件ADAMS,对聚拢装置进行了建模与运动学仿真,结果表明:红枣在聚集过程中,接触的速度都是从小到大再到小,没有急剧的突变现象,对红枣的损害程度较小,符合设计工作要求。以红枣聚集率为响应指标,以前进速度、曲柄转速、滚筒转速为影响因素,设计了正交组合试验,建立了各因素对聚集率指标二次多项式回归模型,并分析了各因素对聚集率的影响规律。通过多重响应方法中的主目标函数法对其参数进行了优化,获得了影响红枣聚集率的最佳参数,即前进速度为0.37 m/s、曲柄转速为58 r/min、滚筒转速为32 r/min,此时红枣聚集率为88.65%。研究结果可为后续落地红枣聚拢装置的改进和研发提供参考。

Significance and Progress of Bionics

The four topics are described including the driving force and source of the scientific and technological creation, the definition and history of the bionics, the important significance of bionics in the development of the human beings, and the leading edge and progress of bionics. The appetency of human for the creation is the essential motivity of the innovation in science and technology. Nature and society are the objects for us to cognize and serve, meanwhile, the best teachers for us to learn from them. It is only 5 million years for human's development, but evolution of life has over 3.5 billion years history. Although, copying the creation from the human being is important, however, it has much more potential and opportunity in imitating the nature, and more possibility to promote the ability of original innovation. The significance and progress of bionics are summarized, in this paper, and the leading edges of bionics, in the near future, are forecasted.

Superhydrophobicity of Bionic Alumina Surfaces Fabricated by Hard Anodizing

Bionic alumina samples were fabricated on convex dome type aluminum alloy substrate using hard anodizing technique. The convex domes on the bionic sample were fabricated by compression molding under a compressive stress of 92.5 MPa. The water contact angles of the as-anodized bionic samples were measured using a contact angle meter （JC2000A） with the 3μL water drop at room temperature. The measurement of the wetting property showed that the water contact angle of the unmodi- fied as-anodized bionic alumina samples increases from 90° to 137° with the anodizing time. The increase in water contract angle with anodizing time arises from the gradual formation of hierarchical structure or composite structure. The structure is composed of the micro-scaled alumina columns and pores. The height of columns and the depth of pores depend on the ano- dizing time. The water contact angle increases significantly from 96° to 152° when the samples were modified with self-assembled monolayer of octadecanethiol （ODT）, showing a change in the wettability from hydrophobicity to su- per-hydrophobicity. This improvement in the wetting property chemical modification. is attributed to the decrease in the surface energy caused by the

Design Principles of the Non-smooth Surface of Bionic Plow Moldboard

The diverse non-smooth body surfaces to reduce soil adhesion are the evolutional results for the soil animals to fit the adhesive and wet environment and can be used as a biological basis for the design of bionic plow moldboard. The model surfaces for bionic simulation should be taken from soil animal digging organs, on which the soil motion is similar to what is on the surface of moldboard. By analyzing the distribution of non-smooth units on the body surface of the ground beetle jaw and the soil moving stresses, the design principles of the bionic moldboard for the local and the whole moldboard were presented respectively. As well, the effect of soil moving speed on reducing adhesion, the dimensions relationship between soil particles and non-smooth convexes, the relationship between the enveloping surface of non-smooth convexes and the initial smooth surface of the plow body, and the convex types of the sphere coronal and the pangolin scales,etc.were discussed.

Bionic Mechanism and Kinematics Analysis of Hopping Robot Inspired by Locust Jumping

A flexible-rigid hopping mechanism which is inspired by the locust jumping was proposed, and its kinematic characteris- tics were analyzed. A series of experiments were conducted to observe locust morphology and jumping process. According to classic mechanics, the jumping process analysis was conducted to build the relationship of the locust jumping parameters. The take-offphase was divided into four stages in detail. Based on the biological observation and kinematics analysis, a mechanical model was proposed to simulate locust jumping. The forces of the flexible-rigid hopping mechanism at each stage were ana- lyzed. The kinematic analysis using pseudo-rigid-body model was described by D-H method. It is confirmed that the proposed bionic mechanism has the similar performance as the locust hind leg in hopping. Moreover, the jumping angle which decides the jumping process was discussed, and its relation with other parameters was established. A calculation case analysis corroborated the method. The results of this paper show that the proposed bionic mechanism which is inspired by the locust hind limb has an excellent kinematics performance, which can provide a foundation for design and motion planning of the hopping robot.

Dynamic Bending of Bionic Flexible Body Driven by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles(PAMs) for Spinning Gait of Quadruped Robot

The body of quadruped robot is generally developed with the rigid structure. The mobility of quadruped robot depcnds on the mechanical properties of the body mechanism, It is difficult for quadruped robot with rigid structure to achieve better mobility walking or running in the unstructured environment. A kind of bionic flexible body mechanism for quadruped robot is proposed, which is composed of one bionic spine and four pneumatic artificial muscles（PAMs）. This kind of body imitates the four-legged creatures＇ kinematical structure and physical properties, which has the characteristic of changeable stiff＇hess, lightweight, flexible and better bionics. The kinematics of body bending is derived, and the coordinated movement between the flexible body and legs is analyzed. The relationship between the body bending angle and the PAM length is obtained. The dynamics of the body bending is derived by the floating coordinate method and Lagrangian method, and the driving tbrce of PAM is determined. The experiment of body bending is conductcd, and the dynamic bending characteristic of bionic flexible body is evaluated. Experimental results show that the bending angle of the bionic flexible body can reach 18. An innovation body mechanism for quadruped robot is proposed, which has the characteristic of flexibility and achieve bending by changing gas pressure of PAMs. The coordinated movement of the body and legs can achieve spinning gait in order to improve the mobility of quadruped robot.

Lightweight Design and Verification of Gantry Machining Center Crossbeam Based on Structural Bionics

The lightweight and high efficiency of natural structures are the inexhaustible sources for engineering improvements. The goal of the study is to find innovative solutions for mechanical lightweight design through the application of structural bionic approaches. Giant waterlily leaf ribs and cactus stem are investigated for their optimal framework and superior performance. Their structural characteristics are extracted and used in the bio-inspired design of Lin MC6000 gantry machining center crossbeam. By mimicking analogous network structure, the bionic model is established, which has better load-carrying capacity than conventional distribution. Finite Element Method （FEM） is used for numerical simulation. Results show better specific stiffness of the bionic model, which is increased by 17.36%. Finally the scaled models are fabricated by precision casting for static and dynamic tests. The physical experiments are compared to numerical simulation. The results show that the maximum static deformation of the bionic model is reduced by about 16.22%, with 3.31% weight reduction. In addition, the first four natural frequencies are improved obviously. The structural bionic design is a valuable reference for updating conventional mechanical structures with better performance and less material consumption.

Elastic Buckling of Bionic Cylindrical Shells Based on Bamboo

High load-bearing efficiency is one of the advantages of biological structures after the evolution of billions of years. Biomimicking from nature may offer the potential for lightweight design. In the viewpoint ofrnechanics properties, the culm of bamboo comprises of two types of cells and the number of the vascular bundles takes a gradient of distribution. A three-point bending test was carried out to measure the elastic modulus. Results show that the elastic modulus of bamboo decreases gradually from the periphery towards the centre. Based on the structural characteristics of bamboo, a bionic cylindrical structure was designed to mimic the gradient distribution of vascular bundles and parenchyma cells. The buckling resistance of the bionic structure was compared with that of a traditional shell of equal mass under axial pressure by finite element simulations. Results show that the load-bearing capacity of bionic shell is increased by 124.8%. The buckling mode of bionic structure is global buckling while that of the conventional shell is local buckling.

The Mechanism of Drag Reduction around Bodies of Revolution Using Bionic Non-Smooth Surfaces

Bionic non-smooth surfaces （BNSS） can reduce drag. Much attention has been paid to the mechanism of shear stress reduction by riblets. The mechanism of pressure force reduction by bionic non-smooth surfaces on bodies of revolution has not been well investigated. In this work CFD simulation has revealed the mechanism of drag reduction by BNSS, which may work in three ways. First, BNSS on bodies of revolution may lower the surface velocity of the medium, which prevents the sudden speed up of air on the cross section. So the bottom pressure of the model would not be disturbed sharply, resulting in less energy loss and drag reduction. Second, the magnitude of vorticity induced by the bionic model becomes smaller because, due to the sculpturing, the growth of tiny air bubbles is avoided. Thus the large moment of inertia induced by large air bubble is reduced. The reduction of the vorticity could reduce the dissipation of the eddy. So the pressure force could also be reduced. Third, the thickness of the momentum layer on the model becomes less which, according to the relationship between the drag coefficient and the momentum thickness, reduces drag.

Restudies on Body Surface of Dung Beetle and Application of Its Bionics Flexible Technique

A scanning electron microscope was used to observe the structures of the setae on the surface of a dung beetle Copris ochus, Motschulsky. There are lots of setae on the body surface, especially on the ventral part surface and lateral to the legs which are different in size, arrangement and shape. These setae have different lengths and many thorns on the whole seta. The top ends of these setae stand up without furcations which direct uprightly towards the surface of the touched soil. By the method of removing these setae, getting the insect weight before and after digging into the dung we affirm farther that the setae on the beetle body surface form the anti-stick and non-adherent gentle interface. The soil machines and components made by imitating the gentle body surface of beetles have favorable non-adherent results.