| Title | A Lobster's Underbelly is as Tough as Industrial Rubber | |
| Date | Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:12AM | |
| Author | takyon | |
| Topic | ||
| from the lobster-tail-tires dept. | ||
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Lobster's underbelly is as tough as industrial rubber (alt)
Flip a lobster on its back, and you'll see that the underside of its tail is split in segments connected by a translucent membrane that appears rather vulnerable when compared with the armor-like carapace that shields the rest of the crustacean.
But engineers at MIT and elsewhere have found that this soft membrane is surprisingly tough, with a microscopic, layered, plywood-like structure that makes it remarkably tolerant to scrapes and cuts. This deceptively tough film protects the lobster's belly as the animal scuttles across the rocky seafloor.
The membrane is also stretchy, to a degree, which enables the lobster to whip its tail back and forth, and makes it difficult for a predator to chew through the tail or pull it apart.
This flexibility may come from the fact that the membrane is a natural hydrogel, composed of 90 percent of water. Chitin, a fibrous material found in many shells and exoskeletons, makes up most of the rest.
The team's results show that the lobster membrane is the toughest material of all natural hydrogels, including collagen, animal skins, and natural rubber. The membrane is about as strong as industrial rubber composites, such as those used to make car tires, garden hoses, and conveyor belts.
The lobster's tough yet stretchy membrane could serve as a design guide for more flexible body armor, particularly for highly mobile regions of the body, such as elbows and knees.
Natural hydrogel in American lobster: A soft armor with high toughness and strength (DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2019.01.067) (DX)
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printed from SoylentNews, A Lobster's Underbelly is as Tough as Industrial Rubber on 2024-04-24 22:19:57