From natural to technical branchings: functional analysis as basis for biomimetic transfer
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| Number of Parts | 163 | |
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| License | CC Attribution - NoDerivatives 4.0 International: You are free to use, copy, distribute and transmit the work or content in unchanged form for any legal purpose as long as the work is attributed to the author in the manner specified by the author or licensor. | |
| Identifiers | 10.5446/50354 (DOI) | |
| Publisher | 05jdrrw50 (ROR) | |
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Computer animation
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PhenobarbitalReaction mechanismGlassesMaterials scienceChemical plantElektronentransferFunctional groupFaserverbundwerkstoffBranch (computer science)MedicalizationDessertRiver source
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Action potentialTopicitySinteringChemical structureMedicalizationDNA replicationFaserverbundwerkstoffTiermodellAusgangsgesteinTool steelMeeting/Interview
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Tiermodell
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FaserverbundwerkstoffElektronentransferFunctional groupMaterials scienceMeeting/Interview
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Materials scienceBranch (computer science)Chemical plantHydrophobic effectChemical structureFunctional group
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DünnschliffReaction mechanismChemical structureBranch (computer science)ThermoformingDeep seaMachinabilityErdrutschLecture/Conference
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OrlistatSample (material)Chemical experiment
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Sample (material)FaserverbundwerkstoffChemical experiment
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Man pageLeft-wing politicsStem cellBranch (computer science)Chemical experimentMeeting/Interview
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Stem cellFaserverbundwerkstoff
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Chemical structureChemical plantTiermodell
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Chemical structureChemical plantMeeting/Interview
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TiermodellElectronegativityDipol <1,3->PolymerChemical experiment
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Chemical experiment
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AuftauenBranch (computer science)InfrastructureMachinabilityComputer animation
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Branch (computer science)Chemical experiment
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Chemical structureTiermodellBranch (computer science)Electrical mobilityConcretion
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Tiermodell
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Chemical structureBearing (mechanical)Concretion
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Chemical structureComputer animation
Transcript: English(auto-generated)
00:17
We are here in the desert house of the Botanic Garden of the University of Freiburg.
00:21
My name is Thomas Beck. I'm the director of the Botanic Garden and head of the Plant Biomechanics Group. The main aim of our scientific interests is a transfer of ideas from plants into technical applications, a branch of science which is called biomimetics. What you see here is a concept generator for branched fiber-reinforced materials, a columnar cacti.
00:43
These branched fiber-reinforced materials, which you see here as an example, are very interesting for many technical applications, ranging from frames of bicycles and cars to stringers in airplanes, but also for pillars for supportive structures in architecture. This architectural application of biomimetics is a topic of a collaborative research center, which is funded now.
01:07
Since Trans-Regel 141, we work together with colleagues from the University of Stuttgart and Tübingen, and we try to analyze the potential of biomimetics for technical applications. Another role model you see here is a dragon tree, and also the dragon tree shows very interesting branching patterns,
01:25
but not only the pattern and the shape of the branching is of interest, but also as to their internal structure, because they show a very interesting arrangement of fibers and fiber bundles, which are very interesting for transfer into technical applications. And here comes Tom Maslter. Tom Maslter is group leader in my institute.
01:44
He is responsible for the research on fiber-reinforced materials in plants and the technical applications, and he will explain a bit more in detail what we do to analyze the plants and how to transfer into the biomimetic products. Hello, what I've got here is the woody center here, woody core of these arborists and cactus,
02:02
in which the living tissue has been removed, and what is well visible is that these branchings are very different. They can be pretty thin or they can be thicker here, and often these branchings are also constricted, as you can see here, and they form also grooves and notches, which help to reduce critical stresses in these regions,
02:21
which is of course very interesting for technical implementation. And in order to analyze these plants in detail, we have to investigate them via biomechanical testing and also optical analysis. And this is what we are going to see next. The outer form and the inner structure of branchings are analyzed via optical methods and mechanical tests.
02:43
Then, the deepened understanding of the structures and principles are abstracted and translated in a technical application. Such a technical product can be implemented, for example, in automotive engineering as well as in architecture.
03:02
The branchings of the dragon trees that we have just seen in the greenhouse are cut into very thin sections with this microtome, so by rotating this machine, I can make very thin slides of about 10 micrometers, for example, so that I can put on a microscope slide, and the microscope slide can then be analyzed,
03:23
the sample can be analyzed with the microscope because they are so thin that the light can go through them, and this allows to analyze the cause and arrangement of the fibrous bundles in detail. Here in the branching of such a monocut stem, between the stem on the left-hand side and the branch on the right-hand side,
03:43
we see the cause and arrangement of the fibrous bundles, so it can be intertwined here, and that deviates into the stem, and on the upper-hand side of the branch, they are connected to the fibrous bundles of the stem directly, and of course this is mechanically important.
04:06
In order to realize these technical implementations, we'll need to, in addition to the optical analyzers, we also make mechanical tests. For these tests, we first scan the ramification of the plant structure
04:22
and have a 3D model as a result, which we can use to produce negative moles and print these in a 3D printer. These moles can be filled with a polymer, and the result is a polymer cast that we can compare mechanically to the natural ramification.
04:41
The technical as well as the natural branchings are analyzed in a specialized force machine, in which the crossheads are connected to a rod that pushes against the branchings, and by this way, it becomes possible to measure the force and displacement of the natural branchings as well as the tactical ones, and this enables us to distinguish between the influence of the outer shape as well as the inner structure of the branchings.
05:06
And this deepened understanding is needed, for example, to produce such models that we can use as demonstrator models for first implementation in constructional engineering and architecture, and these models shall be later filled with concrete, and the models that we can see here,
05:26
the concrete is branching, serves as well as an outer hull, as also as a load-bearing structure. This is of course interesting for many implementations in architecture, for example, as roof-bearing structures.