A Biomimetic Basalt Fiber/Epoxy Helical Composite Spring with Hierarchical Triple-Helix Structures Inspired by the Collagen Fibers in Compact Bone
Jiahui Wang,
Zhongyuan Shi,
Qigang Han,
Yanbiao Sun,
Mingdi Shi,
Rui Li,
Rubin Wei,
Bin Dong,
Wen Zhai,
Wenfang Zheng,
Yueying Li,
Nuo Chen
Affiliations
Jiahui Wang
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Zhongyuan Shi
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Qigang Han
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Yanbiao Sun
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Mingdi Shi
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Rui Li
Changchun Ruiguang Technology Co., Ltd., Changchun 130022, China
Rubin Wei
Shandong Nonmetallic Materials Institute, Jinan 250031, China
Bin Dong
Shandong Nonmetallic Materials Institute, Jinan 250031, China
Wen Zhai
Shandong Nonmetallic Materials Institute, Jinan 250031, China
Wenfang Zheng
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Yueying Li
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Nuo Chen
Roll Forging Research Institute, School of Materials Science and Engineering (Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
The lightweight property of helical composite spring (HCS) applied in the transportation field has attracted more and more attention recently. However, it is difficult to maintain stiffness and fatigue resistance at the same time. Herein, inspired by collagen fibers in bone, a bionic basalt fiber/epoxy resin helical composite spring is manufactured. The collagen fibers consist of nanoscale hydroxyapatite (increases stiffness) and collagen molecules composed of helical amino acid chains (can increase fatigue resistance). Such a helical structure of intercalated crystals ensures that bone has good resistance to fracture. Specifically, we first investigated the effect of adding different contents of NS to basalt fibers on the stiffness and fatigue properties of an HCS. The results show that the optimal NS content of 0.4 wt% resulted in 52.1% and 43.5% higher stiffness and fatigue properties of an HCS than those without NS, respectively. Then, two braided fiber bundles (TS-BFB) and four braided fiber bundles (FS-BFB) were designed based on the helical structure of amino acid chains, and the compression tests revealed that the maximum load resistance of TS-BFB and FS-BFB was increased by 29.2% and 44%, respectively, compared with the conventional single fiber bundle (U-BFB). The superior mechanical performance of TS-BFB and FS-BFB is attributed to the more adequate bonding of 0.4 wt% NS to the epoxy resin and the multi-fiber bundles that increase the transverse fiber content of the spring. The findings in this work introduce the bionic collagen fiber structure into the design for an HCS and provide a new idea to improve the spring performance.
