Develop super light materials inspired by headline shrimp

A lightweight, ultra-durable material that has just been discovered thanks to nature's killer assassin. A headless shrimp (also known as shrimp, shrimp, shrimp and hammer) is small and colorful but possesses the more capable of flipping out with the acceleration of the .22 cal bullet (about 5.5 mm) . Recently, a team of University of California researchers has successfully developed a structured material inspired by the head of shrimp. The results of the study promise to produce a lightweight, ultra-durable material that can be used in the aerospace industry or car manufacturing.

>>>Video: Scary weapon of hammerhead shrimps

With a body length of 10 to 15cm, the headless shrimp is not the largest oceanic armor, but it has other special abilities. With its two more flexible units, the headless shrimps can stun even kill the prey without touching. Headless shrimp often hit their own pears to form separate sounds as a way to communicate with their fellow humans. For the enemy, this is a sound like saying: "Stay away".

This detached sound is emitted from the dangerous weapon that whipped shrimp owns. The headline shrimp uses two units as much as two batons to snap towards the prey with faster acceleration than the acceleration of a .22 cal bullet and creates a force 1000 times greater than its own weight. . According to measurements, the flickering force of a headless shrimp could reach 91kg. With 2 more, the shrimp can defeat many other crustaceans including crabs with hard shells.

With an extremely large flare, raising a shrimp in a glass tank is not a simple thing as it can completely break the glass pool. The owner must use a specially reinforced special tank to nourish this animal.

At the same time, with an extremely fast flickering speed, the head shrimps create a gas bubble in the middle of it and the prey. When this air bubble bursts, it will add an additional force to the prey, causing it to be stunned or even killed.

But the problem of curiosity for researchers at the University of California is that whipped shrimp can snap a force greater than its weight thousands of times but the more it can withstand without breaking? The question is why so?

Spiral screw structure of crust shells

In previous studies, the team discovered that the device was made up of many cuticle layers that overlap with endocuticle layers inside. This structure is essentially a spiral arrangement of fiber minerals. Each layer is intertwined and swirled around each other to form a spiral ring. It was this spiral-shaped structure that helped absorb the jet when it was snapped out.

Based on the structure of the headline shrimps, the researchers created a similar spiral structure with carbon epoxy synthetic fiber material. Each fiber layer is grouped into 3 strands with 3 different angles from 10 to 25 degrees. This layer follows another layer to form a complete spiral structure.

After that, the research team experimented with new materials with 2 other specialized materials. Two types of materials to be compared were also made into layers but placed parallel or alternately. All three types of materials will be adopted through the shock test system commonly used in the aircraft industry.

The results show that type 2 materials with parallel structure and interlaced are severely damaged or damaged. Meanwhile, the team said the material was inspired by the headline shrimps, despite some carbon fiber damage, but still had 20% less common damage than two comparable materials.

Professor David Kisailus, lead researcher at the University of California

It is thanks to the arrangement of spiral layers that allow the force to disperse the force in the entire structure without focusing at one point. This is the key to this new material that can withstand compressive forces and have positive results after the test.

According to the research team, synthetic materials inspired by headline shrimp can be widely used in the aerospace industry or car manufacturing. In addition, it can be used to make various types of armor, helmets, etc. with higher durability than the commonly used materials today. Not only that, the team will continue to build the structure of the headline shrimps by computer models that promise to discover many other new features.

David Kisailus, an engineering professor at the University of California, an honorary member of the American Academy of Sciences, said: "The more we study about small crustaceans, the more things we will get. Its structure is interesting to help improve many things in our daily lives. "