Project description
Innovative design for fatigue-resistant structures
Natural and biological materials have evolved to possess unique properties that enable them to perform specific functions. Butterfly wings are a prime example: they are lightweight, durable and iridescent. While these natural systems hold great potential for inspiring structural design, our exploration of them remains limited. Current design approaches for addressing fatigue, responsible for over 80 % of structural component failures, are deterministic and unproductive. The EU-funded ButterFly project will address this knowledge gap by developing an innovative and reliable mechanistic approach that identifies the design principles essential for ensuring the long-term durability of natural systems. The objective is to transfer this critical knowledge to create structures that are resistant to fatigue.
Objective
Biological material science is a new research topic at the interface of biology and physical science, having a common ground in chemistry, physics, mechanics and engineering. During their evolution, biological materials have developed a unique combination of properties to fulfil specific functions through a series of ingenious and distinctive design elements, evident in different systems created by nature. As an example, butterfly wings have an extraordinary combination of lightness, durability and iridescence. We have merely scratched the surface of this knowledge. Exploring the basis of the unique performance of natural and biological materials, a material science perspective has been widely adopted. However, the study of natural systems considering a structural perspective is still at its early stage and, up to now, we have not fully taken advantage of this potentially unique and immense source of design inspiration, especially in the field of structural integrity and fatigue design. ButterFly is aimed to fill this gap in knowledge making a ground-breaking jump towards bioinspired fatigue design. Fatigue is in fact the most ubiquitous mode of fracture accounting for more than 80% of all in service failures in structural components; however, available design approaches are still deterministic and uselessly repetitive. ButterFly will, for the first time, develop a novel and reliable mechanistic approach able to capture the salient design principles allowing long-term durability of natural systems and will transfer this new fundamental knowledge to design fatigue super-resistant structures. Building upon promising results from my research group, I am convinced that ButterFly will induce an utterly new paradigm-shift in fatigue design inspired by Nature with a considerable impact on industrial design practice, paving the way to a new era of smart and fully optimized fatigue design.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.