A lightweight structure inspired by beetle's elytra and its optimum design of parameters

In order to develop novel lightweight structure, based on the observation of the cross-sectional microstructure of beetle's elytra, the morphological features of beetle's elytra were analyzed, hereby a bio-inspired lightweight structure made by carbon fiber/epoxy composites was designed. The quasi-static compression test was carried out on bio-inspired lightweight structure, and finite element method was used at the same time to analyse the compressive ability of bio-inspired lightweight structure. The analytical results and the test results were compared, which proved the correctness and effectiveness of the finite element analysis. In addition, the optimum design of parameters of the bio-inspired lightweight structure was conducted by response surface method. The results reveal the maximum bearing capacity of bio-inspired lightweight structure under compressive load reaches 18 455.00 N, which increased by 26.4% compared with the structure before optimization, and its specific compressive strength reaches 47.43 MPa/(g·cm^-3), the optimal effect is remarkable.