Structural design inspired by beetle elytra and its mechanical properties

On the basis of the microstructure of the cross-section of a beetle’s elytra, three bio-inspired lightweight structures were designed and built from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic with a three-dimensional printer. The mechanical properties of three lightweight structures were analyzed and compared employing the finite element method, and quasi-static compression experiments and a three-point bending test on the structure samples were carried out using an electronic universal testing machine to verify the effectiveness of the finite element method. The results show that all three bio-structures were lightweight and had excellent mechanical properties. In particular, the bio-structure with spherical holes and hollow columns perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces best imitated the microstructure of the cross-section of the Cybister elytra and had the greatest specific strength/stiffness in compression and bending. Finally, a preliminary optimization design was obtained for this bio-structure to further improve its specific strength and specific stiffness to 31.82 kN m/kg and 108.73 kN m²/kg respectively.