Snail’s Armour Could Offer Human Protection
Posted by Science Oxford on January 20, 2010 | comments
This is cool; once again we are taking inspiration from nature. Research into the shell of a tiny deep-sea snail could help us redesign body armour to offer greater protection.
Read on to find out more:
Visit this page »The robust, efficient shell of a tiny deep-sea snail could provide inspiration for advances in human body armor design, researchers say.
Materials scientist Christine Ortiz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and colleagues investigated the iron-rich shell of the snail Crysomallon squamiferum, recently discovered near deep-sea vents in the Indian Ocean.
The shell has an unusual three-layered design and is unique among animal armor for including a layer based on iron sulfide, chemical compounds of iron and sulfur, researchers said.
They studied the mechanical properties of the individual layers in cross-sections of the shell at the molecular level and used the data to develop a computer model of the snail’s outer skeleton.
Simulations of animals’ natural protective systems can allow researchers and engineers to explore how animals defend themselves while retaining free movement and body regulation, the scientists noted. They examined how the shell protects the snail against a predator attack and found that each of the shell’s three layers seems to be responsible for different aspects of the armor’s effectiveness.
The middle layer is a “compliant” layer sandwiched between two stiffer “mineralized” layers, they found. The inner, calcium-rich layer provides structural support, while the more flexible middle layer helps prevent cracks in other layers from spreading. The outer layer provides additional stiffness but also is susceptible to developing “microfractures” that paradoxically head off more serious cracks by dissipating energy.
Ortiz’ attention was drawn to the snail in 2003, when its discovery was first reported. The animal lives in a harsh environment on the sea floor, near vents that spew hot water. Thus it is exposed to fluctuations in temperature as well as high acidity, and also faces attack from predators such as crabs and other snails.
When a crab attacks a snail, it grasps the shell and squeezes it until it breaks—for days if necessary.
The three-layer arrangement protects against penetration, improves energy dissipation, and resists bending, the investigators found. This could provide a model for developing protective materials for humans, they noted. Their report appears in this week’s early online issue of the research journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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