Method to Retrieve Bionic Morphologies by Spectral Matching for the Design Space

Rohith Vaidyanathan, Gururaj Fattepur, Ravi C. Guttal
2020 International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics  
Bionic designs have evolved from time-tested strategies of nature and have been a source of inspiration for designers and engineers to solve problems. Nature has a rich repository of sustainable and robust ecosystems evolved since 3.8 million years. Previous research works have shown that bio-inspired structures have demonstrated better performance over conventional design. Thus, over the years, several attempts have been made to systematically derive bionic concepts from the convoluted
more » ... s of biological occurrences. The purpose of this research work is to propose an analytical method that can search biological databases to obtain similar forms and aid the conceptual phase of the bionic design process. Eigen modes have proven to be reliable indicators to derive homologous bio-inspired structures. Derivation of bionic structures for the design space is possible after spectral matching of the mode shapes. Inspiration design phase for a bevelled chisel has been demonstrated using this method. A morphological database with form of beaks, domes and wings was leveraged for the case study. The results indicate that the proposed method can enable automatic geometric feature transfer to existing CAD tools. The designer can leverage this analytical method to obtain biological forms from databases and realise novel bionic design concepts.
doi:10.18280/ijdne.150509 fatcat:hhzg2ckc2ndlrpsgsy3geav6ve