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Hierarchical structural design for fracture resistance in the shell of the pteropod Clio pyramidata

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  • Ling Li

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Present address: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 9 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA)

  • James C. Weaver

    (Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University)

  • Christine Ortiz

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

The thecosomes are a group of planktonic pteropods with thin, 1 mm-sized aragonitic shells, which are known to possess a unique helical microstructure consisting of interlocking nanofibres. Here we investigate the detailed hierarchical structural and mechanical design of the pteropod Clio pyramidata. We quantify and elucidate the macroscopic distribution of the helical structure over the entire shell (~1 mm), the structural characteristics of the helical assembly (~10–100 μm), the anisotropic cross-sectional geometry of the fibrous building blocks (~0.5–10 μm) and the heterogeneous distribution of intracrystalline organic inclusions within individual fibres (

Suggested Citation

  • Ling Li & James C. Weaver & Christine Ortiz, 2015. "Hierarchical structural design for fracture resistance in the shell of the pteropod Clio pyramidata," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7216
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7216
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