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Antifatigue properties of dragonfly Pantala flavescens wings
Author(s) -
Li XiuJuan,
Zhang ZhiHui,
Liang YunHong,
Ren LuQuan,
Jie Meng,
Yang ZhiGang
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.22352
Subject(s) - dragonfly , wing , ultimate tensile strength , materials science , morphology (biology) , flexibility (engineering) , microstructure , toughness , truss , composite material , anatomy , structural engineering , biology , ecology , zoology , engineering , odonata , mathematics , statistics
The wing of a dragonfly is thin and light, but can bear high frequent alternating stress and present excellent antifatigue properties. The surface morphology and microstructure of the wings of dragonfly Pantala flavescens were observed using SEM in this study. Based on the biological analysis method, the configuration, morphology, and structure of the vein were studied, and the antifatigue properties of the wings were investigated. The analytical results indicated that the longitudinal veins, cross veins, and membrane of dragonfly wing form a optimized network morphology and spacially truss‐like structure which can restrain the formation and propagation of the fatigue cracks. The veins with multilayer structure present high strength, flexibility, and toughness, which are beneficial to bear alternating load during the flight of dragonfly. Through tensile‐tensile fatigue failure tests, the results were verified and indicate that the wings of dragonfly P. flavescens have excellent antifatigue properties which are the results of the biological coupling and synergistic effect of morphological and structural factors. Microsc. Res. Tech. 77:356–362, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.