Print Email Facebook Twitter Bioinspired rational design of bi-material 3D printed soft-hard interfaces Title Bioinspired rational design of bi-material 3D printed soft-hard interfaces Author Cruz Saldivar, M. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Tay, E.T.W.S. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Isaakidou, A. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Moosabeiki, Vahid (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Fratila-Apachitei, E.L. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Doubrovski, E.L. (TU Delft Mechatronic Design) Mirzaali, Mohammad J. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Zadpoor, A.A. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics) Date 2023 Abstract Durable interfacing of hard and soft materials is a major design challenge caused by the ensuing stress concentrations. In nature, soft-hard interfaces exhibit remarkable mechanical performance, with failures rarely happening at the interface. Here, we mimic the strategies observed in nature to design efficient soft-hard interfaces. We base our geometrical designs on triply periodic minimal surfaces (i.e., Octo, Diamond, and Gyroid), collagen-like triple helices, and randomly distributed particles. A combination of computational simulations and experimental techniques, including uniaxial tensile and quad-lap shear tests, are used to characterize the mechanical performance of the interfaces. Our analyses suggest that smooth interdigitated connections, compliant gradient transitions, and either decreasing or constraining strain concentrations lead to simultaneously strong and tough interfaces. We generate additional interfaces where the abovementioned toughening mechanisms work synergistically to create soft-hard interfaces with strengths approaching the upper achievable limit and enhancing toughness values by 50%, as compared to the control group. Subject OA-Fund TU Delft To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:48a1c535-2187-4514-8efb-63842c301efa DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43422-9 ISSN 2041-1723 Source Nature Communications, 14 (1) Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2023 M. Cruz Saldivar, E.T.W.S. Tay, A. Isaakidou, Vahid Moosabeiki, E.L. Fratila-Apachitei, E.L. Doubrovski, Mohammad J. Mirzaali, A.A. Zadpoor Files PDF s41467_023_43422_9.pdf 6.2 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:48a1c535-2187-4514-8efb-63842c301efa/datastream/OBJ/view