Diabolical Ironclad Beetles and — Aircraft Design?

Beetles. Lots of beetles, big ones, small ones, multi-colored ones — a passel of species. One of these makes it home in the southwestern United States, but it is not much to look at. However, it has a tough hide which caught the attention of researchers.

This fellow is the diabolical ironclad beetle, so named because it cheats at cards. Okay, I could find no reason for such a dramatic name, but compared to other beetles, it seems ironclad. It is puzzling because its exoskeleton does not have minerals, but it was learned that the toughness was from its structure. Then we have biomimetics.

Diabolical Ironclad Beetle, Flickr / Trish Gussler (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

A support can be stiff, but will crack or break under stress. It needs to give a bit under pressure. That is what happens with our little friend. Researchers mimicked the beetle's design in constructing aircraft joints. As is the case in other cases where designs in nature are copied, praise was given to evolution. In fact, they went off the trail and said why the trait "probably evolved", which is not only unfounded speculation, but gives purpose to evolution. Give credit to the Creator, old son.

This beetle is only 2 cm long, or under an inch, but can survive a force of 149 newtons. This is equivalent to the weight of 15 kg, or about 39,000 times the beetle’s own weight. It is also 2.5 times as much as the average male university student can exert between thumb and index finger, and about 10 times the bite strength of potential predators. The ironclad beetle is sometimes known as ‘pin-bender’, because pins will bend rather than penetrate, unless a hole is drilled first.

To read the entire article (plus some bonus material about beetles themselves), click on "Diabolical ironclad beetles inspire extra-strong joints."