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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2015-02, Vol.6 (1), p.6216-6216, Article 6216
Main Authors: Li, Ling, Weaver, James C., Ortiz, Christine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/61/2049
639/301/1023/303
639/301/930/1032
Animal Shells - anatomy & histology
Animal Shells - diagnostic imaging
Animals
Anisotropy
Crystallization
Crystallography, X-Ray
Gastropoda - anatomy & histology
Gastropoda - physiology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Stress, Mechanical
Surface Properties
Ultrasonography
X-Ray Microtomography
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Summary: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 (
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms7216