Project description
A new class of bioinspired mechanical metamaterials
The technological development of a new class of bioinspired mechanical metamaterials – artificially designed materials with properties not found in nature – is the aim of the EU-funded BOHEME project. Drawing on research from various disciplines (from biology and mathematics to ocean engineering and materials science), it is assuming that the working principle behind metamaterials is already exploited in nature and that through evolution this has led to optimised designs for impact damping. BOHEME will take a disruptive approach for applications over various wavelength scales, from non-destructive testing to noise reduction to low-frequency vibration control (including seismic) to coastal protection or energy harvesting from ocean waves.
Objective
BOHEME’s ambitious goal is to design and realize a new class of bioinspired mechanical metamaterials for novel applicative tools in diverse technological fields. Metamaterials exhibit exotic vibrational properties currently unavailable in Nature, and numerous important applications are emerging. However, universally valid design criteria are currently lacking, and their effectiveness is presently restricted to limited frequency ranges.
BOHEME starts from an innovative assumption, increasingly supported by experimental evidence, that the working principle behind metamaterials is already exploited in Nature, and that through evolution, this has given rise to optimized designs for impact damping. The “fundamental science” part of the project aims to explore biological structural materials for evidence of this, to investigate novel optimized bioinspired designs (e.g. porous hierarchical structures spanning various length scales) using state-of-the-art analytical and numerical approaches, to design and manufacture vibrationally effective structures, and to experimentally verify their performance over wide frequency ranges.
Through this disruptive approach, BOHEME will provide a pipeline to the technological development of a new class of bioinspired metamaterials in innovative applicative sectors over various wavelength scales, from non-destructive testing, to noise reduction, to low-frequency vibration control (including seismic), to coastal protection or energy harvesting from ocean waves. Industrial partners will provide know-how for proof of principle experiments and possible prototypes. The project is ambitious and inherently multidisciplinary, involving research in biology, mathematics, physics, materials science, structural and ocean engineering, drawing from scientific excellence of the partners. It involves theoretical, numerical and experimental aspects, and is a high-impact endeavour, from which basic science, EU industry and society can benefit.
Keywords
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
(opens in new window) H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020
See other projects for this callSub call
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
38122 Trento
Italy