Plant-inspired adaptive structures and materials for morphing and actuation: a review

Plants exhibit a variety of reversible motions, from the slow opening of pine cones to the impulsive closing of Venus flytrap leaves. These motions are achieved without muscles and they have inspired a wide spectrum of engineered materials and structures. This review summarizes the recent developmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioinspiration & biomimetics 2016-12, Vol.12 (1), p.011001-011001
Main Authors: Li, Suyi, Wang, K W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
adaptive structures
Anisotropy
bio-inspiration
Biomimetic Materials
Cell Wall - physiology
Droseraceae - physiology
Hydrostatic Pressure
Interdisciplinary Research
morphing
Movement - physiology
Osmosis - physiology
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants - anatomy & histology
responsive materials
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Summary:Plants exhibit a variety of reversible motions, from the slow opening of pine cones to the impulsive closing of Venus flytrap leaves. These motions are achieved without muscles and they have inspired a wide spectrum of engineered materials and structures. This review summarizes the recent developments of plant-inspired adaptive structures and materials for morphing and actuation. We begin with a brief overview of the actuation strategies and physiological features associated to these plant movements, showing that different combinations of these strategies and features can lead to motions with different deformation characteristics and response speeds. Then we offer a comprehensive survey of the plant-inspired morphing and actuation systems, including pressurized cellular structures, osmotic actuation, anisotropic hygroscopic materials, and bistable systems for rapid movements. Although these engineered systems are vastly different in terms of their size scales and intended applications, their working principles are all related to the actuation strategies and physiological features in plants. This review is to promote future cross-disciplinary studies between plant biology and engineering, which can foster new solutions for many applications such as morphing airframes, soft robotics and kinetic architectures.
ISSN:1748-3190
1748-3190
DOI:10.1088/1748-3190/12/1/011001