Blending computation and additive manufacturing for de novo materials design

The high quest for lightweight, strength, and toughness is driving the research towards the design of de novo high-performance materials. In structural applications composites generally represent the best option, offering an optimal stiffness-strength balance, combined with a low weight. Yet, their reduced toughness often represents a limitation for structural components. By solving the eternal strength-toughness dichotomy and providing a remarkable amplification of mechanical properties, natural hierarchical materials, such as bone, nacre, wood, may represent an optimal biomimetic model and continue to be a great source of inspiration for new materials design. Today blending computation and additive manufacturing allows researcher to further expand the design space, bringing it to a new level. Here we show different case studies of bio-inspired design, highlighting the effect of a specific hierarchical sub-structure on the local and global properties of the overall structure and the role of the characteristic structural features to trigger specific mechanisms.