Mechanical Design of Structural Materials in Animals / / John M. Gosline.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press Complete eBook-Package 2018
• VerfasserIn: Gosline, John M.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2018]; ©2018
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (400 p.) :; 110 b/w illus.

Mechanical Design of Structural Materials in Animals explores the principles underlying how molecules interact to produce the functional attributes of biological materials: their strength and stiffness, ability to absorb and store energy, and ability to resist the fatigue that accrues through a lifetime of physical insults. These attributes play a central role in determining the size and shape of animals, the ways in which they can move, and how they interact with their environment. By showing how structural materials have been designed by evolution, John Gosline sheds important light on how animals work.Gosline elucidates the pertinent theories for how molecules are arranged into macromolecular structures and how those structures are then built up into whole organisms. In particular, Gosline develops the theory of discontinuous, fiber-reinforced composites, which he employs in a grand synthesis to explain the properties of everything from the body wall of sea anemones to spiders' silks and insect cuticles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Although the theories are examined in depth, Gosline's elegant discussion makes them accessible to anyone with an interest in the mechanics of life.Focusing on the materials from which animals are constructed, this book answers fundamental questions about mechanical properties in nature.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Section I. Background -- Chapter 1. Introduction to Materials Engineering -- Chapter 2. Principles of Materials Engineering and Mechanical Testing -- Chapter 3. Viscoelasticity -- Section II. The Structural Basis for Material Properties -- Chapter 4. The Structural Origin of Elasticity and Strength -- Chapter 5. Fracture Mechanics -- Chapter 6. The Molecular Origins of Soft Elasticity -- Chapter 7. The Molecular Origins of Viscoelasticity -- Chapter 8. The Design of Composite Materials -- Section III. The Mechanical Design of Tensile Materials -- Chapter 9. The Structural Design of Collagen -- Chapter 10. The Structural Design of Spider Silks -- Section IV. The Mechanical Design of Rigid Materials -- Chapter 11. The Structural Design of Bone -- Chapter 12. The Structural Design of Insect Cuticle -- Section V. The Mechanical Design of Pliant Biomaterials -- Chapter 13. The Evolutionary Origins of Pliant Biomaterials -- Chapter 14. Rubberlike Proteins -- Chapter 15. Pliant Matrix Materials and the Design of Pliant Composites -- Section VI. Concluding Comments -- Chapter 16. Final Thoughts -- List of symbols -- Bibliography -- Index