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Nature provides a wide range of structures with different functions, which can serve as a source of research concepts. Based on the bionics principle, a bionic structure was applied to drill pipe specimens to compare the bond strength of paint coatings with and without a bionic ring groove pattern machined on the substrate.

Using the Revetest Xpress Plus scratch tester, the bond strengths of the coatings on the drill pipe with and without the bionic structure were measured and the difference in bond strength was observed.

The critical scratch loads of the surface coatings were 12.77 and 5.4 N. Furthermore, the scratch curve from the plain sample had a larger fluctuation compared to the curve of the samples with bionic ring grooves.

This indicated that the application of a bionic pattern to the surface of the substrate could enhance the bond strength and the degree of mechanical adhesion between the coating and the surface of the drill pipe, which is beneficial for the anti-corrosion performance of the drill pipe.

The purpose of this paper is to use the NACA 0015 symmetric hydrofoil as the research subject and control cloud cavitation on hydrofoils.

Based on observed distribution of caudal fin spines on fish, a bionic structure of fin-like spines is arranged on the hydrofoil suction surface, which maintains the cavitation in a quasi-steady state stage by eliminating the cyclic shedding process of cloud cavitation. Based on the modified shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model and the Zwart–Gerber–Belamri cavitation model, this paper compares and analyzes the NACA 0015 hydrofoil and the bionic NACA 0015 hydrofoil under condition of an angle of attack of 8° and a cavitation number of 0.8.

The results show that the average drag of the hydrofoil is reduced but the lift is decreased, and the lift-drag ratio is increased after arranging the bionic structure. The bionic structure can effectively reduce the turbulent kinetic energy and make the flow more stable; it also can effectively control the hydrofoil surface side-entrant jet and the vortex shedding process of the near wall region.

Based on the above conclusions, the bionic structure of fin-like spines can achieve a significant passive control in the hydrofoil cloud cavitation process.

The purpose of this paper is to design a kind of air bearing which is based on bionics. Compare with ordinary air bearing, the air pressure consumption is reduced and energy is saved.

This paper puts forward a proposition that a bionic bearing structure is designed based on the bionics principle. First, the authors analyze the microstructure of the wings of long-eared owls and the structural mapping model is established. Second, the theoretical formula is derived through the model, and the structural parameters are optimized by sequence quadratic program (SQP). Lastly, the experimental model is made by 3D printing technology, and the experimental data are analyzed to verify the feasibility of the theory.

By comparing the experimental data, it can be seen that the air pressure of the original air bearing is reduced by 27 per cent, and the validity of the theory and design method is verified.

In this paper, a design method of air bearing based on bionic principle is presented, which can save the air pressure required for working of air bearing, and the structure of air bearing is expected to be applied in engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to design a biomimetic surface structure for use in a glass transport device to enhance the suspension lift of a glass transport unit.

This paper presents a surface structure of a suspended glass transport device based on the principle of bionics. First, a mapping model is constructed based on the wing structure. Second, the optimal structural parameters are given according to genetic algorithm optimization. Finally, the experimental comparison of the test bench verified the feasibility of the theory.

Through experimental comparison, the biomimetic suspension glass transport device saves 20% of air pressure compared with the ordinary suspended glass transport device, which verifies the effectiveness of the theoretical method.

This paper proposes a suspended glass transport device based on the principle of bionics, which saves the air pressure required for work. It is expected to be used in suspension glass transport devices.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-09-2019-0389/

This paper aims to design a magnetostrictive tactile sensor for surface depth detection. Unlike the human finger, although most tactile sensors have high sensitivity to pressure, they cannot detect millimeter-level depth information on the surface of objects precisely. To enhance the ability to detect surface depth information, a piezomagnetic sensor combining inverse magnetostrictive effect and bionic structure is developed in this paper.

A magnetostrictive tactile sensor based on Galfenol [(Fe₈₃Ga₁₇)_99.4B_0.6] is designed and studied for surface depth measurement. The optimal structure of the sensor is determined by experiment and theory. The test platforms for static and dynamic characteristics are set up. The static and the dynamic sensing performance of the sensor are studied experimentally.

The sensor can detect 0–2 mm depth change with a sensitivity of 91.5 mV/mm. A resolution of 50 µm can be achieved in the depth direction. In 50 cycles of loading and unloading tests, the maximum error of the sensor output voltage amplitude is only 2.23%.

The sensor can measure the depth information of object surface precisely with good repeatability through sliding motion and provide reference for object surface topography detection.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the energy absorption characteristics of arch micro-strut (ARCH) lattice structure (different from traditional straight micro-strut lattice structure) under high-speed impact, and promote the development of special-shaped micro-strut lattice structure.

The study serves to study the anti-impact and energy absorption characteristics of ARCH lattice structure under different strain rates and different unit layers of lattice structure. In this paper, quasi-static compression and Hopkinson compression bar experiments are used for comparative analysis.

The results show that the ARCH lattice structure has obvious strain rate effect. When the strain rate is low, the number of layers of lattice structure has a great influence on the mechanical properties. With the increase of strain rate, the influence of the number of layers on the mechanical properties gradually weakens. So the ARCH lattice structure with fewer layers (less than five layers) should be selected as the impact energy absorbing materials at lower impact rate, while at higher impact rate, the number of layers can be selected according to the actual requirements of components or devices space size.

This study shows that Arch lattice structure has excellent energy absorption performance, and provides a theoretical reference for the application of ARCH lattice structure in energy-absorbing materials. ARCH lattice structure is expected to be applied to a variety of energy absorption and anti-impact components or devices, such as aircraft black box fall buffer components, impact resistant layer of bulletproof and landing buffer device.

Entomology is a useful tool when applied to engineering challenges that have been solved in nature. Especially when these special abilities of olfactory sensation, vision, auditory perception, fly, jump, navigation, chemical synthesis, exquisite structure and others were connected with mechanization, informationization and intelligentization of modern science and technology, and produced innumerable classical bionic products. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

All kinds of special abilities of insects and application status have been described and discussed in order to summarize the advanced research examples and supply bibliographic reference to the latters. Future perspectives and challenges in the use of insect bionics were also given.

In the period of life sciences and information sciences, insect bionics not only promoted the development of modern science and technology on the sides of mechanics, molecule, energy, information and control greatly but also provided new ideas and technologies for the crisis of science and technology, food, environment and ecosystem.

It may provide strategies to solve the problems and be a source of good ideas for researchers.

The paper aims to develop a cownose ray-inspired robotic fish which can be propelled by oscillating and chordwise twisting pectoral fins.

The bionic pectoral fin which can simultaneously realize the combination of oscillating motion and chordwise twisting motion is designed based on analyzing the movement of cownose ray’s pectoral fins. The structural design and control system construction of the robotic fish are presented. Finally, a series of swimming experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the design for the bionic pectoral fin.

The experimental results show that the deformation of the bionic pectoral fin can be well close to that of the cownose ray’s. The bionic pectoral fin can produce effective angle of attack, and the thrust generated can propel robotic fish effectively. Furthermore, the tests of swimming performance in the water tank show that the robotic fish can achieve a maximum forward speed of 0.43 m/s (0.94 times of body length per second) and an excellent turning maneuverability with a small radius.

The oscillating and pitching motion can be obtained simultaneously by the active control of chordwise twisting motion of the bionic pectoral fin, which can better imitate the movement of cownose ray’s pectoral fin. The designed bionic pectoral fin can provide an experimental platform for further study of the effect of the spanwise and chordwise flexibility on propulsion performance.

This review will describe the development of the Bionic Handling Assistant as well as the additive manufacturing (AM) process of robot grippers and its possibilities.

AM offers the chance to use the additive processes to produce highly flexible automation parts and systems as the Bionic Handling Assistant in small and medium quantities that can utilize a lot of design advantages provided by the process.

A lot of products of today and especially tomorrow could be produced by rapid manufacturing. New categories of products, such as the Bionic Handling Assistant, will occur.

In the paper, aspects of a visionary scenario for future productions are shown and demonstrated on the Bionic Handling Assistant.

This paper aims to present ball bearings with a composite structure based on the bionics principle and shows the comparison between five types of different structures.

By means of the finite element method, the stress and other parameters between different structures are compared and verified. Finally, the comprehensive parameters of different structures are evaluated by the analytic hierarchy process method.

The evaluation of the comprehensive parameters of five types of structures is shown here.

The value of this paper is calculated and compared to the parameters of five types of different structures, and the parameter score evaluation of each structure is given. Different structures can be selected according to different parameter requirements, which to provide a theoretical basis for the design of ball bearings.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon10.1108/ILT-10-2019-0413