Bionic Engineering Materials and Structural Design

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce this Special Issue of Biomimetics, titled “Bionic Engineering Materials and Structural Design”. Introduced by Jack E. Steele in 1958 and officially used by a group of physicists, engineers, biologists, biophysicists, and psychiatrists attending a conference in Ohio, bionics is a field of engineering that applies biological design principles to the development of innovative engineering solutions for addressing today’s needs, which often demand effectiveness in terms of energy consumption and material use. Also known as biomimetics, bionics is a highly interdisciplinary research discipline involving biology, engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and architecture, to cite a few. This “collaboration”, which is characterized by a large overlap between the different fields, provides a new approach for the synthesis of novel and improved structural and functional materials, as well as inspiration for innovative structural designs. Starting from the invention of Velcro in 1950, which is the first development linked to biomimetics, countless examples of bioinspired materials and structural designs can be currently found in a wide range of engineering fields, such as civil engineering, transportation, nuclear reactors, aerospace, medicine, and electronics. Among them, the often-quoted honeycomb panels inspired by beehive structures, characterized by exceptional energy-absorption capabilities and a high strength-to-weight ratio, and the thin-shell panels inspired by seashells adopt curved surfaces to improve load-bearing capacity with minimum material usage. Surface treatments to induce non-wetting, superhydrophobicity, and self-cleaning are more examples of biomimetics, directly mimicking the so-called “lotus effect” of the lotus leaves. This effect, if used in technological applications, leads to self-cleaning windows, paints, roof tiles, and textiles, to cite a few. Additional examples of structural designs inspired by nature are, for instance, the spiderweb-like cable structures of the Munich Olympic Stadium, combining excellent tensile properties at low weight, and the multi-award-winning Melbourne Council House 2, created by adopting termite mound concepts for achieving better efficiency in terms of the building’s water, gas, and electricity usage and CO₂ emissions. Finally, the renewed Eiffel Tower in Paris, where hierarchical bone-like characteristics provide structural stability and shear wind resistance. However, advancements in bionic engineering are progressing rapidly, with the development of a more and more growing body of bioinspired materials and structural design ideas.

The aim of this Special Issue is to showcase the latest advancements in this field and shed light on original designs and cutting-edge applications.

We are pleased to invite contributions including, but not limited to, innovative materials designs (e.g., structural hierarchy and density gradient) and production techniques, structural design elements (e.g., incorporating tubular, Bouligand, thin-walled, sandwich, sutural, and/or fibrous structures), and eco-friendly strategies, all of them sharing the principle of “abstracting and transferring ideas from biology to technical applications”. The latter, in particular, could be related to a plethora of contexts spanning from civil engineering and architecture (e.g., bionic structural components such as sandwich plates, honeycomb beams, root-like geometries for enhancing stability and load distribution, and bionic building technologies based, among others, on energy-saving and eco-friendly strategies) to aerospace engineering and automotive (e.g., novel bionic design of aircraft wings, front structures of cars and trains, and protective armors), to cite a few.

We look forward to receiving your submissions, which can be in the form of original research articles or reviews.

Dr. Federica Ongaro
Dr. Dapeng Wei
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biomimetics
• bionic engineering
• bio-inspired materials
• bionic structural design
• lightweight components
• energy efficiency
• eco-friendly technologies