A new discovery found in a flying beetle has shed light on how its wing changes shape in flight using an unusual bell-shaped structure, which is compliant in one direction but almost ten times stiffer in the opposite direction.
Results have shown that the structure is an effective one-way hinge that achieves functionality using a single material with no extra mass. The use of the insect-inspired hinge in applications, including easily assembled modular designs, adaptive airless tires, and metamaterials with zero Poisson’s ratio, suggests that the structure can have biomimetic applications over a considerable size range.
Mechanical ‘hinges’ and associated asymmetric bending and twisting are widespread in insect wings and, whilst operating in flight, these hinges allow the wings to deform automatically and asymmetrically between the upstroke and downstroke. They also control the precise, complex patterns of folding and unfolding in the hind wings.
The hinge has many potential biomimetic applications. Firstly, we created a modular design that could easily be assembled and disassembled, followed by a design for an airless tire, which could have numerous applications across a number of sectors.
Tinius Olsen supplied a 1ST UTM equipped with a 500N loadcell, which not only performed the required tension and compression testing but could also be used in combination with the custom setups developed by the University team.
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