Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems

Spotlight on Research - Bio-Inspired Protection Systems

One of the main objectives of this research is to understand material and geometric characteristics of various biological structural-materials, to assess the microstructure-property relations of such materials, and to apply its concepts to design and develop Bio-Inspired Armor Systems (BIAS) for military applications. This research nurtures ‘Biomimetics’, an interdisciplinary area of collaborations between Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Biology, which is inspiring novel design methodologies for structural materials. The innovative BIAS solutions provide a new paradigm for the development of state-of-the-art armor systems. This research can also be applicable to a wide range of industrial applications including armor systems, light weight vehicles, and energy absorption.

Some biological materials, especially structural composite materials, have attracted the attention of many researchers in the recent years due to their novel hierarchical structures and remarkable mechanical properties that are far beyond their component materials. Such composite materials attain unique combinations of mechanical properties, and they use these to enhance their ability to protect themselves against their environments. In general, they comprised both organic and inorganic components in complex structures; and these structures are hierarchically organized at the nano-, micro-, and meso-scale levels unlike those found in man-made counterpart materials.