The inner architecture of a material can have an astonishing effect on its overall properties and is vital to understand when designing new materials. Nature is a master at designing hierarchical structures and so researchers are looking at biological examples for inspiration, specifically to understand how nature arranges the inner architectures for a particular function in order to apply these design principles into man-made materials. Materials Design Inspired by Nature is the first book to address the relationship between the inner architecture of natural materials and their physical properties for materials design. The book explores examples from plants, the marine world, arthropods and bacteria, where the inner architecture is exploited to obtain specific mechanical, optical or magnetic properties along with how these design principles are used in man-made products. Details of the experimental methods used to investigate hierarchical structures are also given. Written by leading experts in bio-inspired materials research, this is essential reading for anyone developing new materials.

Biomimicry for Materials, Design and Habitats: Innovations and Applications and is a survey of the recent work of recognized experts in a variety of fields who employ biomimicry and related paradigms to solve key problems of interest within design, science, technology, and society. Topics covered include innovations from biomimicry in materials, product design, architecture, and biological sciences. The book is a useful resource for educators, designers, researchers, engineers, and materials scientists, taking them from the theory behind biomimicry to real world applications. Living systems have evolved innovative solutions to challenges that humans face on a daily basis. Nonlinear multifunctional systems that have a symbiotic relationship with their environment are the domain of nature. Morphological solutions for buildings inspired by nature can be used for skins, surfaces, and structures to facilitate environmental adaptation of buildings to increase occupant comfort and reduce energy demands. Birds can teach us to produce novel structures, 3D printing can be informed by oysters and mussels, and mycelium may show us the way to fabricate new biocomposites in architecture. Therefore, it is in nature that we seek inspiration for the solutions to tomorrow's challenges. - Presents new directions in education and the various applications of biomimicry within industry, including bio-inspired entrepreneurship - Discusses the role of biomimicry in education, innovation, and product design - Covers applications in systems engineering and design, novel materials with applications in 3D printing, and bio-inspired architecture - Includes perspectives on sustainability detailing the role that bio-inspiration or biomimicry plays in sustainability

In a world now forced to address the issues of sustainability, environmental impact, and the widespread pollution of land and oceans with manmade materials, alternative resources must be considered for the future of the planet. A vast array of natural materials is available throughout the world with properties that are often superior to the man-made alternatives. Designing with Natural Materials fills the gap between the current scientific knowledge of the use of natural materials and product design and acts as a bridge between the two disciplines. The book serves as an introduction to natural materials within the context of design. The chapters include case studies, research, and a historical perspective. It develops ideas of designing with natural materials in specific areas and looks to the future of new biobased materials and how these will influence design. The work offers insight to designers of biobased materials across a range of different design disciplines while also providing insights to scientists on the process of design, production, and the needs of a material beyond those traditionally analyzed in the laboratory. The final chapters touch on the use of bioinspiration and biomimicry in the development and use of biobased materials and how natural design will influence both material design and products in the future. The book will be of interest to engineers, scientific researchers, professional designers, students, those working in industry who are considering using natural materials as an alternative to current unsustainable options, and anyone who has an interest in the subject.

This textbook covers the fundamentals of different functional material systems aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. Each chapter includes an introduction to the material, its applications and uses with example problems, fabrication and manufacturing techniques, conclusions, homework problems and a bibliography. Edited by a leading researcher in smart materials, topics include piezoelectric materials, magnetostrictive materials, shape memory alloys, mechanochromic materials, chemomechanical polymers and self-healing materials.

With the onward march of science and technology, and the continuing quest for improvement, there is a growing curiosity about the world around us. Close examination of structures in nature can be rewarding and surprising Nature has shown an extraordinary capacity to develop dynamic structures and systems over many millions of years and there is still much to be learnt. Aimed at providing researchers in this subject with fresh impetus and inspiration, this book consists of papers presented at the Fifth International Conference on Design and Nature. The contributions reflect the rich variety of work currently taking place around the world and cover the following topics: Nature and Architecture; Mechanics in Nature; Natural Materials and Processing; Solutions from Nature; Biomimetics; Biomimetics and Bioinspiration; Biocapacity; Education in Design and Nature, and Helical Design in Nature.

Assuming no mathematical or chemistry knowledge, this book introduces complete beginners to the field of petroleum engineering. Written in a straightforward style, the author takes a practical approach to the subject avoiding complex mathematics to achieve a text that is robust without being intimidating. Covering traditional petroleum engineering topics, readers of this book will learn about the formation and characteristics of petroleum reservoirs, the chemical properties of petroleum, the processes involved in the exploitation of reservoirs, post-extraction processing, industrial safety, and the long-term outlook for the oil and gas production. The descriptions and discussions are informed by considering the production histories of several fields including the Ekofisk field in the North Sea, the Wyburn Field in Canada, the Manifa Field in Saudi Arabia and the Wilmington Field off the Californian Coast. The factors leading up to the well blowouts on board the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mantara Field in the Timor Sea are also examined. With a glossary to explain key words and concepts, this book is a perfect introduction for newcomers to a petroleum engineering course, as well as non-specialists in industry. Professor David Shallcross is one of the foremost practitioners in chemical engineering education worldwide. Readers of this book will find his previous book, Chemical Engineering Explained, a useful companion.

This book deals with a group of architectured materials. These are hybrid materials in which the constituents (even strongly dissimilar ones) are combined in a given topology and geometry to provide otherwise conflicting properties. The hybridization presented in the book occurs at various levels - from the molecular to the macroscopic (say, sub-centimeter) ones. This monograph represents a collection of programmatic chapters, defining archimats and summarizing the results obtained by using the geometry-inspired materials design. The area of architectured or geometry-inspired materials has reached a certain level of maturity and visibility for a comprehensive presentation in book form. It is written by a group of authors who are active researchers working on various aspects of architectured materials. Through its 14 chapters, the book provides definitions and descriptions of the archetypes of architectured materials and addresses the various techniques in which they can be designed, optimized, and manufactured. It covers a broad realm of archimats, from the ones occurring in nature to those that have been engineered, and discusses a range of their possible applications. The book provides inspiring and scientifically profound, yet entertaining, reading for the materials science community and beyond.

Design in engineering and science has often been inspired by nature. This has been more evident in recent years, after a period during which our civilization thought in terms of taming rather than working in harmony with nature. The consequences of that approach are still with us and have resulted in a world increasingly homogenized, lacking in biodiversity and with increased pollution. Mankind has been slow to learn and even slower to apply the lessons that nature offers, in spite of the urgency of our predicament. This book contains papers presented at the fourth International Conference on Comparing Design in Nature with Science and Engineering . The emphasis of this Volume is on engineering and architectural applications and on biomimetics, reflecting in some measure current interest in finding environmentally friendly solutions which also optimize the use of natural resources. The contributions have been arranged into the following topics: Biomimetics; Shape and Form in Engineering Nature; Nature and Architectural Design; Natural Materials and Surfaces; Complexity; and Education.

The book presents a set of novel, efficient and systematic concurrent multiscale optimization methods by considering the distribution of the material in macro-scale and the unit-cell configuration design in micro-scale simultaneously. Different from the traditional optimization method that is performed in a single scale, the proposed methods could generate a great deal of improvements in structural performance through the multiscale structure-material concurrent optimum design.The proposed theory and methods are related to statics, dynamics, thermoelastics and the coupling of different physical fields. Therefore, it provides a comprehensive designing scheme when multiple factors are taken into account. For example, the designing scheme can have a great significance on enhancing the structural performances under coupled multi-physical fields, such as load bearing capacity, vibration resistance ability, and safety under thermal stress and so on.Several numerical examples are highlighted in this unique volume based on practical engineering applications. The examples collectively demonstrate drastically improved designs featuring excellent unit-cell configuration and highly regular macroscale material distribution in a variety of industrial applications.

Throughout history, many leading thinkers have been inspired by the parallels between nature and human design, in mathematics, engineering and other areas. This book brings together articles from researchers from around the world working on a variety of studies involving nature and their significance for modern scientific thought and design. Featuring papers from the Third International Conference Comparing Design in Nature with Science and Engineering, the text will be of interest to researchers and those interested in the study of natural materials, organisms, processes and their significance for design in the world today. Notable topics include: Design in Nature; Shape and Form in Engineering and Nature; Nature and Architectural Design; Thermodynamics in Nature; Biomimetics; Natural Materials in Engineering; Mechanics in Nature; Bioengineering; Bionics; Solutions from Nature; Evolutionary Optimization; Complexity; Sustainability Studies.