A Morphologically Guided Mesoscopic Pore System for Enhancing the Impact Resistance of Stomatopod Telson

Abstract

Though developed by similar building materials, the stomatopod telson exhibits far superior impact resistance than stomatopod tergite to withstand powerful impact during preying and ritualized fighting. Despite its well-known macroscopic feature, this study focus on determining structural and mechanical optimization strategy of stomatopod telson in the meso and microscale using fast and high resolution synchrotron imaging methods. A distinctive 3D mesoscopic pore system was revealed embedding unevenly within the telson by synchrotron CT. To better understand the mechanical functions of this pore system, in-situ drop weight impact test was performed on stomatopod telson. The cross-scale deformation mechanism was elucidated using fast in-situ 2D x-ray imaging and high resolution ex-situ 3D tomography. Additionally, the study identified some novel mechanical features related to the mineralized chitin nanofibers which help toughening stomatopod telson in the microlevel. These findings offer potential for enhancing the development of lightweight composite fiber materials with improved flexibility and damage tolerance.

Keywords: stomatopod telson, in-situ characterization, 3D crack path, mesoscopic pore system, toughening mechanisms