Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

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Additive Manufacturing
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/addma

Review

Lessons from nature: 3D printed bio-inspired porous structures for impact

energy absorption – A review
Shakib Hyder Siddique , Paul J. Hazell *, Hongxu Wang , Juan P. Escobedo , Ali A.H. Ameri
School of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: As a result of their mechanical characteristics, biological structures often provide inspiration for the development
3D printing of high-performance mechanical structures. Nevertheless, traditional production processes are often incapable of
Additive manufacturing precisely reproducing the intricate and exquisite nature of biological systems. Modern additive manufacturing
Biomimicry
techniques provide a pathway to the creation of materials with complex patterns that are inspired by biological
Porous structures
processes. In this paper, we identify the different types of biomimetic porous structures seen in nature, many of
Specific energy absorption
Design which are composite structures, and categorise them. We also identify the natural species with porous structures
and illustrate their functions. In addition, this review paper presents how these porous structures have been
mimicked for engineering applications. Figures are shown to demonstrate the scale (meso, micro, and nano) at
which the porous structures are emulated. As biological porous structures have been successfully mimicked into
synthetic materials using additive manufacturing (AM), we classify the types of 3D printing with respect to
impact loading applications and describe the various types of additive manufacturing processes used to manu­
facture biomimetic porous structures. This review paper will be of interest to academics looking to design
innovative lightweight porous composite structures and use emerging technologies to investigate their energy
absorption properties, which have a wide range of engineering applications.

1. Introduction Lightweight structures with high energy absorption capacity are

The term biomimicry was first introduced by Otto Schmitt in the
1950s, and was regarded as “the study of formation, structure, or
function of biologically produced substances and materials specially for
the purpose of synthesising similar products by artificial mechanisms
which mimic natural ones” [1]. Bioinspired designs basically involves
incorporating some of the functions and the characteristics of biological
organisms into novel materials, devices and structures [2]. Biological
materials have the feature of toughness enhancement mechanism due to
their unique architectures [3]. However, it has become a design chal­
lenge to enhance the performance of human-made materials that is
analogous to biological materials [4]. Researchers overcame this design
challenge by fabricating engineering materials that are inspired by
natural structures [5]. A key factor that motivates scientists to conduct
research of biological structures is the understanding of the relationship
between their microstructures and properties, which can lead to the
design of a new generation of lightweight materials or structures with
exceptional properties [6,7].
becoming increasingly popular in a variety of technical sectors,
including aviation, transportation, nuclear industry, and civil engi­
neering. As a result, a variety of energy absorbers with various designs
have been developed in recent years, including column structures
[8–11], sandwich structures [12–14], honeycombs [15–17], foams
[18–21], architectured structures [22] and smooth cell lattice structures
[23–25]. Although these structures have shown great energy absorption
capability, they have yet to be optimised. To enhance the energy ab­
sorption capacity of engineering systems, researchers are attempting to
learn from biological structures that have adapted to thrive in their
environments. In the year 2000, the biomimetic approach was used for
the first time in an energy absorption application [26]. Since then, this
technique has been widely used in many energy absorption systems such
as the front components of cars and trains [27,28], aircraft wings [29],
and defensive armours [30,31].
Fig. 1 illustrates structural patterns displaying a porous biological
material. This is just a short example of a motif that covers one of the
structural features that can be mimicked from nature. The

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: p.hazell@adfa.edu.au (P.J. Hazell).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2022.103051
Received 26 April 2022; Received in revised form 13 July 2022; Accepted 19 July 2022
Available online 22 July 2022
2214-8604/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

microstructure of coconut displays structural features at different length
scales that evolve with age [32]. At their coarsest level, the character­
istic features hollow channels. While these channels appear in both old
and young shells, they become more distinct in the older shells. These
channels are lined by hollow fibres consisting of concentric rings in a
ladder form along the length of fibres. Additive Manufacturing (AM)
could be one of the techniques to manufacture bio-inspired engineering
components that outperform their synthetic equivalents or fulfil the
necessary function using biologically compatible resources [33].
Biomimicry delivers the way to mimic natural structures, whereas
AM offers flexibility in designing and manufacturing multi-material,
multiscale, and multi-functional bio-inspired structures. AM technolo­
gies represents a cost-effective method to manufacture engineering
components that are difficult to manufacture using conventional
methods [35]. In architecture, medicine, and anthropology, AM has
been utilised to build components with distinctive and unique structures
that may be found in a variety of sectors [36–40]. The usage of AM
technologies to manufacture materials with detailed microstructures
that are difficult to manufacture by standard processing methods is an
appealing characteristic [41–48] Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Coconuts, young and old, are compared structurally. Coconuts produce a porous structure comprised of hollow channels, hollow fibres with ladder-structured
walls, and nanopores incorporated in the coconut shell’s lamellar pattern (A) CT scan of young coconut shell (B,C) young coconut shell illustrating an elliptical,
hollow cellular structure (D,I,J) channels are lined by hollow fibres (E) cell walls (F) FIB microscopy demonstrating the nanoscale structure of the cell walls with
pores and layered structure (G) CT scan of old shells reveals hollow channels run latitudinal, with smaller connecting channels running longitudinally (H) disap­
pearance of elliptical, hollow cellular structure in the older samples (K) hollow fibres consisting of concentric rings connected in a ladder structure along the length of
the fibres [34].

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S.H. Siddique et al.
The fundamental capacity of AM technologies to control the detailed
structure and chemical composition in a layer-by-layer manner makes
them ideal for mimicking the structures of porous biological materials.
Bio-inspired structures are usually intricate, making their
manufacturing impossible via classical fabrication techniques [49–51].
Remarkably, a synthetic process that works by depositing successive
layers resembles many biological components that synthesise in nature,
as seen in Fig. 2 [52]. Some of the common features are;.
(1) The supply of building blocks in a continuous manner
(2) A programming code that determines the macroscopic shape the
material has to be deposited [53]
(3) Mechanism to control the orientation of the building blocks
(4) A step that fixes the deposited material in place in the form of
layered or pixelated architectures [54]
Even though man-made technologies are still a long way from
reaching the level of complexity and precision found in biological sys­
tems, the above similarities suggest that additive manufacturing could
be a great way to make synthetic materials that are more complex and
have more functions. The wide variety of tissues and materials found in
nature shows how many different kinds of synthetic heterogeneous
structures could be made [55].
Fig. 2. Similarity between (A) Construction of building biological materials and (B) 3D printing process [52].
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
Using AM, it is possible to manufacture synthetic heterogeneous
materials with differing levels of complexity and features. 3D printing of
bioinspired materials has several limitations; for example, resolution,
cost, quality, production speed for 3D printing, and fabricating multi­
scale structures are some critical issues [56].
There are three main ways of solving engineering problems by
mimicking nature. Designers can mimic the physical form/structure,
such as the surface structure of notoriously great self-cleaning lotus
leaves. They can also mimic the process, such as how ants communicate
in order to efficiently find sources of food. Lastly, designers can mimic
the ecosystem such as creating a circular economy where no bio-
products in a manufacturing facility goes to landfill, but rather used
for something else [57]. This paper focuses on structures that were
physically mimicked from nature.
After the introduction, the second section of the paper elaborates on
the wide range of physically mimicked biomimetic porous structures
that have been discovered over the years. The third section of the paper
highlights the studies on the advanced fabrication of bio-inspired porous
structure materials through the integration of AM technologies such as
material extrusion, material jetting, vat polymerization and powder bed
fusion to demonstrate the potential of this approach in having extraor­
dinary structural control.
S.H. Siddique et al.
2. Categorisation of bio-inspired porous structures
In a vast number of species, there are many geometrical structures
with outstanding mechanical properties such as high rigidity, flexural
strength, resistance to wear, and fatigue strength. Driven by these geo­
metric designs, high-performance structures can be manufactured that
can withstand various loading conditions. Cellular structures feature
porous characteristics, which means they have the potential to be used
as robust, lightweight components [56]. In this section, different kinds
of biomimetic porous structures are reviewed and these have been cat­
egorised as shown in Fig. 3.
In general, porous is associated with holes in solids filled with air or
fluid. Every biological substance is porous to a certain extent since
different forms and densities may be found in nature. Porous materials
frequently improve energy absorption with the additional benefit of
lowering weight [58]. Porous metals have the mechanism of absorbing
impact energy through the collapse and densification of pores. Porous
structures are widely distributed in the environment and serve an
important function in determining the material’s impact resistance, high
elastic stiffness, and ability to undergo large plastic deformation at a
constant stress. A material’s reaction to dynamic stress is strongly
affected by the arrangement and distribution of its porous characteris­
tics [58].
The effects of strain rate on the deformation behaviour of porous
metals have received consideration by many researchers [59–68]. The
strain rate effect is thought to be related to fluid (air) flow through
ruptured cell walls, and appears to be controlled by cell shape, cell size
and distribution. Biomimetic porous structures are usually
two-dimensional or three-dimensional in nature. Tubes and honeycombs
are examples of two-dimensional structures as the pattern of repeated
unit cell extends in two directions only, unlike foam, lattice and others.
Opened-cell structures are solids only at the edge of cells whereas
closed-cell structures have solid membranes at the faces of the cells and
are enclosed. It was pointed out by Gibson and Ashby [69] that
opened-cell and closed-cell structures have similar stiffness because the
cell edges carry most of the load. These categorisations are depicted in
the Fig. 3.
2.1. Tube
The tubule design is characterised by their hollow or flowing chan­
nels in the same orientation. This design technique is recognised by
several extraordinary energy-absorbing materials in nature, including
bamboos, horsetail plants, beetles, and tendons. Tubules can be found
within their nature (cell walls, vessels etc.) when observed at a micro/
nano scale. Radius, volume fraction, and wall thickness are key elements
that affect mechanical properties. Typical energy absorption mecha­
nisms for the design of tubes include buckling, bending, collapse, and
delamination. In the end, tubules have demonstrated to improve resis­
tance to impact by boosting energy absorption via deformation pro­
cesses and by cracking as they disintegrate the wall of the tubules.
Circular tubes are the most widely used geometry because of their
high strength, rigidity, affordability, flexibility, and ease of production,
as well as their high energy absorption capacity [70]. Imitating natural
structures may result in the development of more efficient circular de­
signs with increased energy absorption capacity. It was found that the
tube systems can be considered for applications that have a limited
crushing zone with an increase of energy absorbed per unit length. It was
also discovered that the collapse load decreases with decreasing the
thickness and increasing the tube diameter [70–73].
The number of contributing flanges are some recognised influencing
factors for the impact energy absorption of thin-walled structures [74].
Chen and Nardhi [75] carried out experimental studies on the axial
crushing behaviour of single-hat and double-hat with an internal flange
sections, and found that the latter one improves the specific energy
absorption.
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
2.1.1. Bamboo
The overall stiffness/mass ratio of bamboo is greater than that of
metallic materials, such as steel and aluminium. Bamboo trees can
accommodate high bending stresses which results from the force exerted
by the wind. Bamboo has a distinct structure that consists of a cylindrical
column with symmetrical nodes. While having higher bending and
compressive strengths than some traditional materials, the bamboo
nodes are also far more resistant to cracking [76]. Bamboo’s vascular
system which forms the porous structure comprises of interconnected
channels and a multi-cell network with a gradient distribution of pa­
renchyma cells (see Fig. 4(A)). This pattern has the potential for the
design of thin-walled structures that can mimic the mechanical prop­
erties of bamboo. However, a thin-walled tube has several limitations
such as its low lateral energy absorption, low stability when collapsing
(dependent on the curvature of the indenter) and poor rigidity in the
lateral direction [77]. The stability of the tubes when compressed axially
is lower due to the fact that the structure failed in the buckling mode,
particularly with tubes that have large L/D ratios. The similarity be­
tween bamboo and thin-walled tubes in terms of loading, structure and
function provide inspiration and reference for designing thin-walled
tubes.
To create an effective energy absorption structure, Zou et al. [78]
presented a bamboo-inspired multi-cell tube (BMT) and did a numerical
investigation. The BMT was made up of four circular tubes interlinked
together. The structures cross-section was inspired by the bamboo
vascular system. The bio-inspired multi-cell tube has 18, 9, and 4 tubes
in each layer from the outside to the interior, mimicking the bamboo’s
vascular gradient distribution as shown in Fig. 4(A). When simulated
with the nonlinear finite element method (FEM), the results demon­
strated that the bio-inspired design possessed four times more specific
energy absorption (SEA) under both lateral and axial impact loads.
Another design was reported by Ma et al. [79] where they developed
a bio-inspired design that mimics the gradient distribution of bamboo
vascular bundles, as illustrated in Fig. 4(B). The numerical findings
revealed that the load-bearing capability of the bio-inspired structure
was 1.24 times higher than the regular tube design. On the other hand, a
bamboo-inspired honeycomb tubular structure was manufactured using
the wire-cut electrical-discharge machining (WEDM), as illustrated in
Fig. 4(C) by Hu et al. [80]. These samples were subjected to a
drop-weight impact test at an impact velocity of up to 4.4 m/s. Various
configurations of the vascular structures were considered. It was
concluded that the maximum specific energy absorption of the struc­
tures was higher than those of traditional metallic honeycomb structures
(35 J/g).
2.1.2. Horsetail plant
Hollow multi-cell structures are found in the horsetail plant, and
these porous structures are capable of withstanding lateral loading
conditions such as the wind (see Fig. 5(A)) [81]. As a result, horsetail
structures have been the foundation for the development of a few
bio-inspired structures.
Yin et al. [82] were the first researchers to study horsetail
bio-inspired multi-cell tubes (HBMTs). They investigated the perfor­
mance of HBMTs under three-point bending at a low strain rate via
nonlinear the finite element method through LS-DYNA as seen in Fig. 5
(B). According to their numerical investigation, cell number, inner wall,
diameter, and wall thickness had a significant effect on the crashwor­
thiness of the structure. To upgrade the design, in a more recent study,
Yin et al. [83] have introduced foams in their design as demonstrated in
Fig. 5(C). In their study, the numerical investigation was executed using
LS-DYNA. An experimental lateral impact test was also conducted with
an impact velocity of 15 m/s. Based on the analysis of the new design,
the foam density and wall thickness of the bio-inspired structure were
found to have a significant impact on their crashworthiness. The specific
energy absorption of the bio-inspired structure was 1.6 kJ/kg when
modelled with 0.5 g/cm3 foam density and a tube thickness of 3 mm.
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Fig. 3. Categorisation of bio-inspired porous structures for energy absorption.

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S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Fig. 4. Bamboo-inspired structures. (A) Design of tube structures similar to vascular structure [78]; (B) Modified bionic element mimicking the gradient distribution
of bamboo [79]; (C) Bamboo-inspired honeycomb tubular structure [80].

Fig. 5. (A) Horsetail plant [81]; (B) Horsetail-inspired structures under lateral loading [82]; (C) Introduction of foam in the design [83].

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S.H. Siddique et al.
Again, the results demonstrated that the bio-inspired structures per­
formed better than the traditional foam-filled circular thin-walled
structures.
2.1.3. Beetle forewing
The internal structure of trabeculae in the beetle forewing (Fig. 6)
also has mimicable porous structures. Xiang and Du [84] suggested two
novel bio-inspired multi-cell tubes based on the inner architecture of the
ladybeetle and the Japanese beetle forewing. The novel tubes comprised
of honeycomb and circular tubes, where the circular tubes were located
at the centre of the walls of the honeycomb as illustrated in Fig. 7(A).
The energy absorption characteristics of the two kinds of bio-inspired
structures were manufactured using aluminium alloy and investigated
by comparing an original honeycomb structure under axial impact
loading using the nonlinear finite element software LS-DYNA. Dynamic
loading was conducted under the weight of 500 kg and the speed of
10 m/s. The results demonstrated that the specific energy absorption of
the bio-inspired design was higher than the traditional honeycomb
structures.
Hao and Du [85] studied the energy absorption characteristics of
three bio-inspired multi-cell tubes, whereby they have positioned the
circular tubes within honeycomb walls as shown in Fig. 7(B). They have
investigated the crushing behaviour and energy absorption character­
istics of the bio-inspired structures under axial impact loading at an
initial velocity of 10 m/s through numerical simulation. Aluminium
alloys were used as the material for simulation using LS-DYNA. This
research was further continued by Xiang et al. [86] where they
mimicked the features of the lady beetle forewing and introduced
various circular tubes comprising of different polygon cross-sections
that were designed as hollow cylindrical structures as shown in Fig. 7
(C). They followed a similar methodology as Hao and Du [85]. The re­
sults demonstrated that regular hexagonal bio-inspired design demon­
strated superior specific energy absorption characteristics when the
diameter of the tubes was between 18.13 mm and 23.56 mm. This
research was conducted by numerical simulations.
Other researchers have also attempted mimicking tubular-type
porous structures. Zhang et al. [87] investigated a series of
bio-inspired designs with quadrilateral, hexagonal, and octagon sections
to understand the effects of the position of circular tubes within the
designed cross-sections, as shown in Fig. 7(D). LS-DYNA was used to
simulate the crushing process due to an axial impact load. The bottom
end of the AA 6060 T4 tube was fixed, and the top end of the tube was
compressed by a rigid plate with a constant velocity of 10 m/s. The
results demonstrated that the specific energy absorption (SEA) of
Fig. 6. Microstructures of (A) Beetle forewing (B) Japanese beetle forewing [86].
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
quadrilateral (29.94 kJ/kg), hexagonal (33.86 kJ/kg), or octagonal
(36.09 kJ/kg) cross-sections were higher than the designs without tubes
(22.99 kJ/kg).
2.1.4. Tendons
The muscle connects to bone primarily through tendons, which are
soft and thick structures that facilitate movement. A tendon’s anatomy
exemplifies a hierarchy in nature. A scale ranging from nanometres,
micrometres, to millimetres defines its cross-section as shown in Fig. 8
(A). The strength and toughness of tendon fibres are governed by several
different damage-related processes that run at all hierarchical levels.
Tendons serve as force-transmitting structures between muscle and
bone. This has the additional effect of acting as a dynamic amplifier
when rapidly contracting muscles [88].
Tsang and Raza [89] presented tubular, hierarchical tubes similar to
those seen in tendon and muscle, on a smaller scale as shown in Fig. 8
(B). These tubes were created by nesting smaller tubes within an already
established tube at a higher level of the hierarchy. The aluminium alloy
7075-T6 was used for all orders and levels of tubular sections. Further,
the Ansys software package was used to model a hypothetical impact
scenario of a vehicle collision. The initial velocity of the impactor
(1500 kg) was set to 10 m/s. The initial velocity was prescribed to the
impactor in the direction of the impact while a fixed boundary condition
was specified at the bottom of the target body beneath. Significant
improvement in the energy absorption capabilities was revealed when
the hierarchy was introduced, and greater enhancement was achieved
for higher-order hierarchical sections. It was seen that that the peak von
Mises equivalent stress in the target reduced from 485 MPa to
337–198 MPa whereas the maximum von Mises equivalent strain
ranged from 0.25% to 0.18–0.1%. In order to complement their findings,
a parametric study was carried out with three key parameters. They are,
mass, velocity of impactor, and the wall thickness of the tubes. It was
concluded by the authors that the results were not sensitive to any key
design parameters chosen for the study.
A list of all the tubule structures along with their source of inspira­
tion can be found in Table 1.
2.2. Honeycomb
Honeycomb is a porous structural material, which has incredible
properties such as high stiffness-to-weight ratio and strength-to-weight
ratio [90]. Honeycombs created by bees are one of the prominent nat­
ural bio-inspirational structures [91]. The honeycomb design has been
used in various industrial sectors such as aerospace [92], marine [93],
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Fig. 7. (A) Bio-inspired multi-cell tubes consisting of honeycomb and circular tubes [84] (B) Bio-inspired multi-cell tubes with different positions of circular tubes
[85] (C) Circular tubes in the hollow cylinders with different cross-sections [86] (D) Bio-inspired multi-cell tubes with quadrilateral, hexagonal, and octagonal
sections [87].

Fig. 8. (A) Tendon (B) Bio-inspired tube mimicking tendon structures [89].

and transportation [94]. They showed outstanding properties such as
energy absorption capacity [95] and impact protection [96]. The
following section is primarily focused on honeycomb with special ge­
ometries that were mimicked from nature, such as the horse hoof, spider
web, and pomelo peel.
2.2.1. Horse hoof
Hooves have comparable porous structures and have shown prom­
ising energy absorption characteristics as they are capable of sustaining
high-stress impact conditions [100]. Yang et al. [97] designed a new
bio-inspired honeycomb shape consisting of horse hoof as shown in
Fig. 9(A). Their study was conducted to examine the mechanical char­
acteristics that occur under the out-of-plane uniform compression. In

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S.H. Siddique et al.
Table 1
A summary of bio-inspired tubule structures and their findings in accordance
with Section 2.1.
Bioinspired Authors Mimicked features Summary of findings
sources
Bamboo [78] Multi-cell bamboo Bio-inspired design
fibre possessed four times more
specific energy absorption
(SEA) under both lateral and
axial impact loads
[79] Distribution of bamboo Load-bearing capability of
vascular tubes the bio-inspired structure
was 1.24 times higher than
the regular tube design
[80] Honeycomb pattern of Maximum specific energy
the fibre orientation absorption of the structures
was higher than those of
traditional metallic
honeycomb structures
(35 J/g)
Horsetail [82] Multi-cell porous Cell number, inner wall,
plant structures diameter, and wall thickness
had a significant effect on
the crashworthiness of the
structure
[83] The specific energy
absorption of the bio-
inspired structure was
1.6 kJ/kg when modelled
with 0.5 g/cm3 foam density
and a tube thickness of 3 mm
Beetle [84] Inner architecture, The SEA of the bioinspired
forewing comprised of multi-cell designs have increased by
hexagonal lookalike 9.79% and 35.97%
unit cells compared with a
conventional structure
[85] The SEA of the bioinspired
designs have increased by
68.33% compared with a
conventional structure
[86] Absorption characteristics of
circular and octangular
bioinspired structures
improved
[87] SEA of quadrilateral
(29.94 kJ/kg), hexagonal
(33.86 kJ/kg), or octagonal
(36.09 kJ/kg) cross-sections
were higher than the designs
without tubes (22.99 kJ/kg)
Tendons [89] Hierarchical tubes at peak von Mises equivalent
micro scale stress in the target reduced
from 485 MPa to
337–198 MPa whereas the
maximum von Mises
equivalent strain ranged
from 0.25% to 0.18–0.1%
order to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the novel horse hoof
shaped honeycomb structures, LS-DYNA was employed to simulate the
experiments. During the simulation, the top rigid plate was set to move
downwards at a prescribed crosshead velocity of 1 m/s. Research to
show the influence of wave amplitude, wave number, and cell-wall
thickness on out-of-plane crashworthiness was also performed using
parametric analyses. From the numerical modelling, it was demon­
strated that an increased plateau region in the stress-strain graphs was
obtained by adding the horse hoof honeycombs compared to the tradi­
tional honeycomb structure, resulting in higher specific energy
absorption.
2.2.2. Spider web
He et al. [98] studied smaller hexagons at the centres of original cells
and linked subsequent vertices by straight beams, which created a
spider-web hierarchy in an underlying hexagonal network as shown in
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
Fig. 9(B). This shows the first and second order hierarchy of the
spider-web mimicking the porous honeycomb structure. A finite element
model was also developed and verified using experimental data that was
used to investigate the out-of-plane crashworthiness of this novel
bio-inspired hierarchical honeycomb structure. The crushing process
was numerically simulated by LS-DYNA using a 400 kg impactor and a
prescribed velocity of 15 m/s. The base material of the honeycomb was
aluminium alloy 6060 T4. Hierarchical honeycombs are also compared
to ordinary honeycombs in terms of their mechanical characteristics
such as stiffness, and energy absorption. Adjusting the hierarchical
structural factors properly may effectively regulate the energy absorp­
tion capabilities. Their results reported that first-order spider-web hi­
erarchical honeycomb’s SEA increased by 62.1%, whereas second-order
spider-web hierarchical honeycomb’s SEA increased by 82.4%.
2.2.3. Pomelo peel
Pomelos (Citrus maximum) can weigh as much as 6 kg [101] and
grows on trees of up to 15 m [102] in height, so they can absorb sub­
stantial kinetic energy when falling to the ground which leads to un­
avoidable impact protection considerations. Pomelo peel is able to
dissipate energy because of the porous hierarchical structure, which acts
as a protective barrier for the internal pulp and seed [103–106]. When
examining the internal structure-function relation, a combination of the
X-ray tomographic imaging and digital volume correlation reveals that
the unique microstructure (i.e. cell linked vascular bundles) plays a
crucial role in the strength of the pomelo peel [107].
Pomelo peel has a distinctive microstructure that Zhang et al. [99]
used to build a novel hierarchical honeycomb. They studied the crushing
behaviour of porous structural materials by designing a new bio-inspired
honeycomb structure as shown in Fig. 9(C). To get to the quantitative
structure-property connections, they used an analytical-numerical
method. This method was based on parametric studies to investigate
alternative hierarchical orders and thickness of the structure. By
increasing the structural hierarchy and modifying geometric dimensions
of the pomelo peel-inspired honeycomb, it yielded better crushing
resistance and energy absorption capabilities. As compared to standard
honeycomb, during out-of-plane and in-plane crushing, the hierarchical
honeycomb’s specific energy absorption (SEA) and corresponding
plateau stress were observed to be raised by 1.5 and 2.5 times respec­
tively [99].
A list of all the honeycomb structures along with their source of
inspiration can be found in Table 2.
2.3. Foam
Foams have superior capacity to absorb energy; however, they tend
to have low compressive strength [108–111]. Metal tubes [112,113],
bamboo tubes [114], and composite tubes [115] have been utilised to
increase the structural strength and energy absorption of foams. A
concern when using metal tubes for polymer foams is that they are too
robust and too heavy. Further, often there is a wide disparity between
the tube and the foam’s strengths, making the two separate from each
other. A reasonable composite scheme strategy is to have equivalent
strength for the two components [116].
2.3.1. Luffa
Natural hierarchical materials, such as bio-cellular luffa sponges
[125–130], are an excellent subject for the study of porous structures.
They have an incredible level of porosity, and are capable of maintaining
a constant stress deformation plateau during crushing. These
bio-inspired porous structure are hierarchical which is comprised of four
levels and composed of many cell types [131]. They contain
macro-pores and micro-pores. The rigidity of the inner-surface layer is
enhanced by the macropores. Further, the mechanical characteristics of
the luffa sponge are also controlled by the amount of moisture [125].
To mimic this luffa sponge hierarchical structure, a hierarchical
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Fig. 9. (A) Horse hoof inspired honeycomb with different cross-sections [97] (B) Cross-sectional geometry (a) regular hexagonal honeycomb (b)-(c) first and second
order spider-web honeycomb [98] (C) Configuration and geometries of pomelo peel inspired hierarchy honeycomb [99].

energy absorption of the bio-inspired structure was higher than the

Table 2
summation of the specific energy absorption of each component in the
A summary of bio-inspired honeycomb structures and their findings in accor­
hierarchical foam. An ultra-light composite cellular structure with high
dance with Section 2.2.
energy absorption was produced by applying hybrid and hierarchical
Bioinspired Authors Mimicked features Summary of findings design techniques [117].
sources

Horse hoof [97] Horse hoof structure Increase in plateau region in 2.3.2. Pomelo
consisting of two the stress-strain graphs was
The walls of fruit usually have a variety of purposes. The preserva­
identical circular arcs obtained by adding the
horse hoof honeycombs tion of pulp and seeds against mechanical damage are one of the most
compared to the traditional essential tasks. These biological structures are excellent models to create
honeycomb structure, novel materials and components that safeguard goods from damage
resulting in higher specific caused by hard handling or collisions. When a pomelo fruit is cut in half,
energy absorption
Spider web [98] Structure of the webs First-order spider-web
it has a peel that is 2–3 cm thick [132]. The pomelo peel has a thicker
with many hierarchies hierarchical honeycomb’s outer epidermis (the coloured flavedo) than other citrus species. Except
SEA increased by 62.1%, for the network-like lignified vascular bundles that permeate (nearly)
whereas second-order the whole peel, the other major component tissues are made up of
spider-web hierarchical
parenchymatic cells that only have a primary cell wall and are filled with
honeycomb’s SEA increased
by 82.4%. cell fluid as shown in Fig. 10B [118–120].
Pomelo Peel [99] Microstructure of the The hierarchical Bührig-Polaczek et al. [103] performed an indentation test on half of
vascular bundles honeycomb’s specific a fruit that was cut at 45◦ to the fruit longitudinal axis. The pomelo
energy absorption (SEA) halves were tested at a deformation rate of 5 mm/min with the help of a
and corresponding plateau
stress were observed to be
flat plunger with a circular cross-section that was mounted on a uni­
raised by 1.5 and 2.5 times versal testing machine. They have implemented fibre bundles into an
respectively aluminium alloy foam structure as adopted in the pomelo peel. The
result shows an increase in the plateau stress in the stress-strain graph
and a rise in stiffness by 30% when fibre bundles were introduced in the
aluminium foam cylinder was developed by An and Fan [117] as shown
foam structures compared to standard foam structures.
in Fig. 10(A), and they have reinforced it together using flexible
thin-walled carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) tubes. A 300 g
2.3.3. Lotus root
aluminium foam cylinder of 150 mm diameter and 30 mm height was
The lotus root has a unique porous structure. The microstructure of
used. The CFRP tube was 10 mm in diameter and 1 mm in thickness.
the lotus root is composed of long cylindrical pores that are parallel to
Quasistatic axial compression experiments were carried out at a defor­
one another. Metallic materials are also known to have lotus-type porous
mation rate of 1 mm/min to investigate the crushing behaviour of the
structures that align in a single direction as shown in Fig. 10(C) [121,
bio-inspired structure. It was observed that the specific energy absorp­
122].
tion of the porous bio-inspired structure was considerably high,
Tane et al. [133] investigated the dynamic and quasistatic
compared to a foam cylinder that was made of aluminium alone. The
compression responses of the copper and iron specimens that were
peak force of the bioinspired structure was able to reach 333.9 kN
designed with embedded cylindrical pores (41.7% porosity) aligned in a
whereas the peak force of the foam cylinder was 199.7 kN. The specific

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S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Fig. 10. (A) Bio-inspired hierarchical porous structure [117] (B) SEM image showing a density gradient of the foam-like structure as well as vascular bundles
[118–120] (C) SEM images showing the morphology of the pores of a porous specimen in cross-section [121,122] (D) Comparison between biological structure
material (turtle shell) and synthetic counterpart material (metallic foam) [123] (E) Aluminium foam samples of varying relative densities [124].

single direction to mimic the microstructure of lotus root. They focused
on the changes that the cylindrical pores have undergone during the
plateau stress region of the experiment and the impact energy absorp­
tion. They conducted the quasistatic test at a strain rate of 2.8 × 10− 4 s-1
and the dynamic test at a strain rate of (1.67 ± 0.04) × 103 s-1. The
temperature was set to 298 K during the experiments. The authors
concluded in their findings that the porous specimens tested perpen­
dicular to the direction of the pores did not exhibit a plateau region in
the stress-strain curves. On the contrary, testing conducted parallel to
the direction of the cylindrical pores, resulted in slip deformation orig­
inating from the high mobility of the dislocations. And lastly, the
formation of macroscopic deformation bands that were caused by the
cylindrical pores tremendously decreased the work hardening rate.
2.3.4. Turtle shell
The Terrapene carolina (box turtle) has greater energy absorption
capabilities and possesses a sandwich composite hierarchy comprised of
a lamellar bony shell and a bony network of closed-cell foam inside
[134]. The turtle shell carapace has a similar structural response to a
metal foam material, which shows a stress plateau when loaded in
compression [108,135,136]. Similar features are observed at the front
and rear shells of armadillos [137].

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S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Rhee et al. [123] designed several aluminium foams with a structure Table 3
comparable to the Terrapene carolina shell hierarchy as shown in Fig. 10 A summary of bio-inspired foam structures and their findings in accordance with
(D). Each foam was built with distinct morphologies and densities. The Section 2.3.
strain rate sensitivity of the foams was evaluated for impact perfor­ Bioinspired Authors Mimicked features Summary of findings
mance. As a result, nano-indentation tests at loading rate 450 μN/s, sources
quasi-static compression test at the strain rate of 10-3 s-1 and high strain Luffa [117] Spongy structure The peak force of the
rate experiments by using split Hopkinson pressure bar were conducted. consisting of macro- bioinspired structure was
The results demonstrated that sandwich composite enclosed by thick pores and micro-pores able to reach 333.9 kN
whereas the peak force of
skin consisting of aluminium foams mimicking the bio-inspired porous
the foam cylinder was
structure had higher specific energy absorption than other natural large 199.7 kN
cell foam designs comparatively. Pomelo [103] Fibre bundles Increase in the plateau
The attractive features of aluminium foams including low density, incorporated in the stress in the stress-strain
high stiffness-to-weight ratio, strength, energy absorption, recyclability, foam structure of the graph and a rise in stiffness
peel by 30% when fibre bundles
and affordability has made it a suitable structure for many applications. were introduced in the
It has been used as guards against threats and shed light on innovative foam structures compared
armour concepts [138]. Metal foams that are integrated with automo­ to standard foam structures
tive structural components with strong dynamic loading characteristics Lotus root [133] Microstructure of the The porous specimens
root comprising of long tested perpendicular to the
have seen a revival due to current emerging trends that are resulting in
cylindrical pores direction of the pores did
lighter and more efficient but safer consumer vehicles [139,140]. not exhibit a plateau region
in the stress-strain curves.
2.3.5. Bone Testing conducted parallel
Bones are categorised as homologous natural porous materials that to the direction of the
cylindrical pores, resulted
have graded pore structures and show great mechanical properties
in slip deformation
under compression [141–143]. Replacement and regeneration of originating from the high
damaged bone are still major challenges in orthopaedic surgery. Clini­ mobility of the dislocations
cally, there has been a huge demand for bone graft materials. Current Turtle [123] Network of closed-cell Aluminium foams
foam organised in a mimicking the bio-inspired
standard treatments for bone defects are using autographs and allo­
sandwich composite porous structure had higher
grafts. As a result, researchers are creating bionic scaffolds that allow specific energy absorption
cell attachment, migrations and enable diffusion of vital cell nutrients than other natural large cell
[144]. foam designs comparatively
Yi et al. [124] offered an adaptive density tailoring technique for the Bone [124] Graded pore structures Compared to the equal-
weight uniform foam-filled
foam filler that mimics the remodelling mechanism in the bone as shown
tubes, graded foam-filled
in Fig. 10(E). Using FE analysis, this approach calculates the density tubes display up to 24%
gradient of foam filler. Simulation findings show that foam filler’s outer greater specific energy
layer has a greater strain level than the inner layer. To maintain align­ absorption (SEA)
ment with the FEA strain distribution pattern, radial density gradients
are used to produce foam fillers. Compared to the equal-weight uniform
its dactyl strike is described as one of the strongest aquatic animals
foam-filled tubes, graded foam-filled tubes display up to 24% greater
found in nature. They can endure repetitive impact force that can extend
specific energy absorption (SEA).
up to 1500 N without any catastrophic breakdown. Thus, demonstrating
A list of all the foam structures along with their source of inspiration
its utility as a damage-tolerant bioinspired source [161]. The outer layer
can be found in Table 3.
(shell) of the mantis shrimp consists of an impact region (corrugated
structure) sandwiched between the impact surface and the layer un­
2.4. Sandwich panels derneath the shell. Authors have taken inspiration of this core design to
recreate a sandwich panel and study their energy absorption capabilities
Sandwich structures often have porous characteristics due to their as stated below.
cellular cores. These cores often have complex topologies. The cellular Yang et al. [158] designed a porous corrugated sandwich panel
core can be in the form of foam structures, honeycomb structures, and inspired by the peacock mantis shrimp that utilises two distinct corru­
truss-based lattice structures. An inner layer that is softer and more gation directions to enhance the structure’s ability to absorb energy. As
flexible is sandwiched between two strong and rigid outer layers (faces). a result, a novel light-weight bio-inspired double-sine corrugated (DCS)
Damage patterns during an impact loading condition involves cracking, sandwich structure was proposed as shown in Fig. 11(A). The material
core buckling, debonding, shearing, and damage initiation on the bot­ used to manufacture the sandwich structure was 1060 aluminium alloy.
tom face [145–149]. The sandwich structure improves the amount of The uniform compression of the bio-inspired corrugated core sandwich
strain energy that a material can absorb while also distributing the force panel was investigated by performing numerical analysis using
of the impact across a broad region and preventing cracks from forming LS-DYNA under a quasi-static crushing load at a deformation rate of
at the pore and layer interfaces of the material. 2 mm/min. In comparison with the regular triangular and sinusoidal
Due to the feature that plastic deformation can absorb the impact corrugated core sandwich panels, the bio-inspired DSC core sandwich
energy when the structure endures from an unexpected crash, metallic panels were demonstrated to improve the structural crashworthiness as
sandwich structures have seen widespread attention in recent years and well as deteriorate the initial peak force vastly.
are starting to see applications in numerous engineering fields, including
aviation, marine, and transportation industries [71,150]. The crash­ 2.4.2. Woodpecker’s beak
worthiness of the sandwich structures has been improved by replacing Birds’ beaks, notably those of woodpeckers, can be utilised as high-
various porous cores such as foams [151–153], honeycombs [154,155], impact resistance and high-damage tolerance designs for energy ab­
and trusses [156,157] by bioinspired core designs as stated below. sorbers. The woodpecker’s beak impacts a tree trunk at a speed of about
6–7 m/s without damaging the beak and the brain. The anatomy of the
2.4.1. Mantis shrimp beak and head of woodpeckers demonstrated that they have shock-
Peacock mantis shrimp, also known as Odontodactylus scyllarus, with

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Fig. 11. (A) The integrated design process of the bio-inspired sinusoidal corrugated sandwich structure (a) Mantis shrimp (b) SEM image of their protective structure
(c-d) Bio-inspired design [158] (B) (a) Woodpecker (b) The beak (in cm scale) (c-e) TEM images of the beak (f) bio-inspired honeycomb structure from woodpecker’s
beak [159] (C) Schematic of sandwich structure with grid reinforced honeycomb core [160].

mitigating abilities [162–164]. The porous honeycomb structures in the
woodpecker’s upper beak were discovered using Transmission Electron
Microscopy (TEM) imaging, which revealed that the keratin grains are
densely packed as honeycomb structure. However, unlike the conven­
tional honeycomb, the honeycomb structure of the woodpecker’s beak
showed that their cell walls have a wavy sinusoidal structure as shown in
Fig. 11(B) (c-e) [165]. The wavy structure may improve the energy
absorption performance and damage tolerance of the beak. Authors
were inspired by the new bioinspired honeycomb structure, which lead
to designing a new sandwich structure and tests were conducted to
assess its energy absorption capabilities as stated below.
Even though porous honeycomb-cored sandwich panels have various
advantages [166–170], there are certain limitations that have to be
considered. For example, honeycombs are completely covered by the
bonding faces of the sandwich panel, which accommodates water and
vapour that can become trapped inside the cells. This increases the
weight of the structure while also deteriorating its mechanical perfor­
mance [171].
San Ha et al. [159] designed and examined a new bio-inspired porous
honeycomb sandwich panel (BPHSP) based on the microstructure of a
beak woodpecker as shown in Fig. 11(B) (f). The walls were designed to
be wavy, mimicking the microstructure of the beak that serves as a core
of the sandwich panel. The finite element software ABAQUS/Explicit
was adopted to investigate the performance of BPHSP. Compression
tests were conducted at a constant speed of 10 m/s. Finite elements
simulation revealed that panels had a specific energy absorption that
was 1.25 times higher than the standard honeycomb sandwich panel
with the same core thickness.
2.4.3. Leaf
In nature, plant leaves are capable of withstanding long-term alter­
nating stresses generated by wind and rain with great efficiency. Bar-
Sinai et al. [172] investigated the plant leaves under the influence of
mechanical stress and discovered that the capacity of a leaf to endure
mechanical stress was increased by reorienting the porous vascular vein
in the growing leaf throughout the growth process. Leaf bending and
torsion resistance are influenced by the form and size of the
cross-sections of the petiole [173]. Veins in a plant leaf not only allow
water and nutrients to pass through the leaf but also help to preserve the
form of the leaf and prevent crack proliferation [174]. These veins form
a grid pattern that becomes a source of inspirations by researchers to
apply in structures that needs strengthening, particularly in the cores of
sandwich structures. As such, one researcher have taken that inspiration
from leaf and applied in their sandwich structure as stated below.

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To strengthen soft honeycomb cores of sandwich structures, Sun structure to uniform compression. Their experiment results showed that
et al. [160] designed periodical bioinspired grids incorporated in their these diatoms have a range of Young’s Modulus between 1.1 and
porous honeycomb cores as shown in Fig. 11(C). The grid-reinforced 10.6 GPa. The mechanical behaviour was also evaluated further for
honeycomb core can be described as a multi-level lattice arrangement possible size-stiffness (experimental) and size-stress (simulation) corre­
with several grid layers within the core itself. To study the mechanical lations. For the size-stiffness (experimental) evaluation, it was found
properties, in-plane compression experiments were performed on an that diatoms having a frustule diameter of 190 µm experienced the
Instron 8501 machine at a deformation rate of 10 mm/min. The porous highest stiffness (10.2 GPa). For the size-stress (simulation) evaluation,
sandwich structure was manufactured with 6060T5 aluminium alloy for it was found that diatoms having a frustule diameter of 190 µm expe­
the grid and honeycomb core, whereas CFRP was used to manufacture rienced von Mises stress of 30 N/mm2. The combination of a mechani­
the face sheets. The experimental results indicated that the bio-inspired cally resistant frustule with a porous structure contributes to the
structure provided increased stiffness by 5.3%, increased energy ab­ mechanical robustness of the overall structure.
sorption and critical buckling load, which were higher than the spec­
imen that had only a honeycomb core without the grid reinforcement. 2.6. Glass sponge
A list of all the porous sandwich structures along with their source of
inspiration can be found in Table 4. Glass sponge is a deep-dwelling animal named for its intricate glass-
like skeletal structure. They are commonly found in the deep ocean and
are one of the great examples of light-weight structures that has excel­
2.5. Diatoms
lent mechanical properties [182].
Diatoms are small algae that are single-celled with micrometre sizes
2.6.1. Euplectella aspergillum (EA)
(from 2 to 2000 µm) and have complex porous wall structures (frustules)
Euplectella aspergillum (EA) is a popular glassy sponge as it builds its
composed of silica glass (SiO2) [175,176]. They exist in aqueous envi­
skeleton in a way that entraps certain species [183]. From the me­
ronments [177]. Diatoms are either radially symmetrical or pennate in
chanical characteristics perspective, they have better flexural strength
shape. The diversity of diatom shapes, sizes, and pore distribution
and strain of 850 MPa and 2.5%, respectively. Fig. 13(A-D) depicts the
within each species is distinct [178]. Individual diatoms will have
skeleton and microstructure of a typical EA sponge, as well as the
distinct, species-specific forms and varying pore lengths ranging from
composition of the sponge. EA’s skeletal system features a porous ar­
nanometres to millimetres [179]. It has unique micro and nano features,
chitecture with symmetrical free space. It is made up of tiny fibres of
and symmetrical pore arrays, that make them suitable for many appli­
silica ceramic and organic components that constitute the skeleton of the
cations. Coscinodiscus sp. is an example of marine diatom that re­
EA sponges. The thin fibres have a layered design in the shape of
searchers have studied upon as stated below.
concentric cylinders, known as spicule [184].
Researchers have discovered that spicule layers consist of amorphous
2.5.1. Coscinodiscus
silica (SiO2) [185]. Organic materials such as proteins or collagen exist
Higgins et al. [180] utilised atomic force microscopy (AFM) to
between these silica layers. These layered structures are the contributing
determine the key morphology features of the diatom frustule. Moreno
factor for the key toughness, strength and bending modulus [186,187].
et al. [181] designed a combined experimental-simulation method to
The laminated structure of this type of sponges can eliminate crack
probe the porous structure and mechanical behaviour of the marine
progression [188]. If a crack initiates, it is unable to progress to the next
diatom species, Coscinodiscus sp. (centric) using nanoindentation tech­
subsequent layer, thus preventing the catastrophic failure of brittle
nique and finite element analysis as shown in Fig. 12. The deformation
materials [188,189].
rate was set to 10 nm/s and the load range was set to 10–30 μN. They
Tavangarian et al. [190] mimicked the spicular structure of the
have also examined the mechanical response of this aquatic diatom
porous EA sponge and developed a new structure for improving the
mechanical characteristics of fragile rods as shown in Fig. 13(F). Cyl­
Table 4
inders with varying diameters have been produced and placed into each
A summary of bio-inspired sandwich panel structures and their findings in
other using a 3D printer in the newly designed framework. The samples
accordance with Section 2.4.
were fixed in a 3-point bending test machine with 160 mm span and a
Bioinspired Authors Mimicked features Summary of findings
crosshead deformation rate of 200 mm/min. The flexural strength,
sources
strain, modulus, and toughness of the newly developed nested cylinder
Mantis shrimp [158] Corrugated structure Bio-inspired DSC core structure (NCS) demonstrated significant mechanical improvements.
sandwiched between sandwich panels were
The NCS was also recorded to have a lower density compared to solid
impact layers demonstrated to improve
the structural rods. According to their SEM observations, crack branching, crack
crashworthiness as well as bridging, and crack deflection were the dominant mechanisms on the
deteriorate the initial peak toughening of NCSs when tested having a cylindrical wall thickness of
force vastly
0.8 mm.
Woodpecker’s [159] Porous honeycomb Bio-inspired panels had a
beak structures in the specific energy absorption
woodpecker’s upper that was 1.25 times higher 2.7. Gyroid
beak than the standard
honeycomb sandwich Gyroid is a porous light weight structural material and is an infinite
panel with the same core
thickness
triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS). It can be found in many bio­
Leaf Sun et al. Orientation of Bio-inspired structure logical membranes [191]. The structure of gyroid is naturally designed
[160] porous vascular provided increased to have a minimal surface area. Researchers have found that TPMS
bundle stiffness by 5.3%, structures were feasible to design, but difficult to manufacture until the
increased energy
introduction of AM [192]. Catalytic supports [193], nano-porous
absorption and critical
buckling load, which were membranes, photonic crystals [194], and biomimetic materials [195]
higher than the specimen are some of its engineering applications.
that had only a
honeycomb core without 2.7.1. Sea urchin
the grid reinforcement
The spine of sea urchin consists of an open-cell porous

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Fig. 12. (A-B) SEM micrograph of a characteristic Coscinosidus sp. diatom frustule (C) Finite element method of uniform elastic compression simulation of Cosci­
nosidus sp. diatom [181].

Fig. 13. (A-B) The structure of Euplectella aspergillum (EA) (C) SEM microstructure of a natural spicule structure (D) cross-section of natural spicule structure (E)
schematic representation of the cross-section of spicule (F) schematic representation of the cross-section of different nested cylindrical structure (NCS) samples [190].

microstructure (also known as stereom). The skeletons of sea urchins are
among the most widely known biomineralized porous structures in na­
ture. The stereom structure has controlled gradients in porosity along
with structural variations. Studies have shown that the strength-to-
weight ratio of sea urchin spines is higher than that of brick and con­
crete because of the crack confining effect caused by the extremely
porous structure. Such mechanical behaviour is associated with the
protection of these species from impact, fracture, and wear which results
from the forces induced from the attack of predators [198].
A novel class of lightweight sandwich structures with TPMS cores as
shown in Fig. 14(A), was investigated by Peng et al. [196] using a
combination of 3D-printing technology, experimentation, theoretical
formulation, and numerical modelling. Sandwich structures with
Primitive, Neovius and IWP core topologies were designed and fabri­
cated using a 3D printing technique. The authors conducted bending test
on the bio-inspired structures at a deformation rate of 1 mm/min. The
results demonstrated that the geometrical parameters and relative
density of the core have a significant influence on the bending stiffness,
maximum load, and energy absorption. In addition, with an increase in
relative density of the TMPS core, the bending stiffness, strength, and
energy absorption capacity of the sandwich structure increases. The
findings provide valuable insights into future designs of novel sandwich
structures for various engineering applications.
2.7.2. Butterfly wings
Butterfly wings are natural porous hybrid materials that are
composed of many components blended in precise geometries and scales
to form a single structure [199,200]. Butterfly wings have piqued the
interest of several research groups [199,201,202] owing to their unique
design, which serves a variety of tasks such as enticing mates and

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Fig. 14. Biomimetic design of TMPS-like structure found in (A) Sea urchin skeleton [196] (B) Butterfly wings [197].

avoiding predators [203,204]. According to mechanical analysis [43,

44], their wing may be regarded as a structure that has been optimised Table 5
A summary of bio-inspired gyroid structures and their findings in accordance
for bending loads. A cross-sectional view of the scale’s extremely porous
with Section 2.7.
centre part reveals that it is divided into two outside sections, which are
implemented by a frame in which load-bearing bars are joined to the Bioinspired Authors Mimicked features Summary of findings
sources
porous core by perpendicular smaller bars. The topology of the inner
porous layer maximises the stiffness of the structure while simulta­ Sea urchin [196] Open-cell porous Geometrical parameters and
microstructure in the relative density of the core
neously reducing its weight [191,205].
spine have a significant influence
Pelanconi and Ortona [197] developed a structure inspired by the on the bending stiffness,
butterfly wings in order to optimise stiffness under bending stresses as maximum load, and energy
shown in Fig. 14(B). The primary characteristics of the structure were absorption
created after examining the scales on the wings of butterflies. SEM im­ Butterfly [197] Gyroid structure along The structure with CFRP
wings with a set of ribs in the rods (46 N/mm) had more
ages showed the structure of a gyroid, including a set of ribs to provide wings than twice the stiffness of
additional strength. Their approach involved substituting the ribs with the non-reinforced structure
carbon fibre-reinforced bars that were linked to the main structure using (20 N/mm)
a novel design idea. Bending tests were carried out on the designed
bio-inspired structures at a span length of 100 mm and deformation rate
[206] studied the dynamic crushing of periodic lattices under uniaxial
of 2 mm/min. The results revealed that the structure with CFRP rods
compression by finite element simulations. Under different impact ve­
(46 N/mm) had more than twice the stiffness of the non-reinforced
locities, the deformation modes and the average of lattices with various
structure (20 N/mm). The majority of the structures failed at 10 mm
relative densities were studied. They have concluded that the average
displacement, pointing out that the collapse was ruled by the core.
dynamic stress increases with the impact velocity, the density of the base
A list of all the gyroid structures along with their source of inspira­
material, and the relative density of the lattice.
tion can be found in Table 5.

2.8. Lattice
A lattice is composed of several unit cells, combined together to form
a small porous structure that can be placed repetitively in any direction.
They can also emerge in many forms and sizes. A tetrahedron shaped
biomimetic lattice structure is observed in human bone (trabeculae).
The strength that keeps the bone from being broken by mechanical
stresses is provided by the trabeculae. Pyramid figure (polyhedron) is
also seen in the trabeculae under a microscope.
For the impact energy absorption of lattice porous structures, their
specified relative density is one of the contributing factors. Qiu et al.
2.8.1. Glyptodonts
Glyptodonts were extinct mammals that belongs to the group of
Cingulata, which includes modern-day armadillos too. The osteoderm of
glyptodont is a body armour that serves as a protection against predators
as shown in Fig. 15(a). The osteoderm has dense compact layers and
porous lattice cores that contribute to a combination of strength and
high energy absorption capacity. Osteoderms of glyptodont consist of a
trabecular core sandwiched between two compact layers [207–210]. It
was found that the carapace of glyptodonts was rather stiff, in contrast to
the more flexible structure found in armadillos [207].
Du Plessis et al. [211] conducted experiments to investigate the
osteoderms of Glyptotherium arizonae, an extinct mammal in which their

16
S.H. Siddique et al.
Fig. 15. (a) Glyptodont, showing its body armour consisting of interlocking osteoderms (b) Strut thickness between the osteoderm (c) simplified reverse engineering
model [211].
body armour provided protection against predators. The authors did this
work using a combination of micro-computed tomography,
reverse-engineering, stress simulations (by applying 1 kN load) and
mechanical testing of 3D printed models at a loading speed of 1.5 mm/s
as shown in Fig. 15(b-c). The results demonstrated that the combination
of dense compact layers comprising of 0.25 mm strut thickness and a
porous lattice core (66% porosity) contributes to the structural strength
as well as avoiding any catastrophic failure of the system.
3. Additive manufacturing processes of biomimetic porous
structures
The fabrication of biomimetic structures of intricate designs is
difficult to build with conventional manufacturing processes. Though
utilising the traditional machining method such as metal arc welding
and CNC machining makes it possible to manufacture complex struc­
tures, they involve the waste of materials as they are mostly built by
subtracting the material from the workpiece [212,213]. AM, however,
offers a method to manufacture detailed bio-inspired structures, allow­
ing the study of the internal mechanics and reaction of biological
structures to external forces. Biomimetic research is becoming increas­
ingly reliant on the use of AM technologies as it is feasible to design and
build optimised structures using this manufacturing process [214].
As is well known, AM is a sophisticated manufacturing technology
that uses a layer-by-layer approach to connect materials and build the
overall structure, rather than manufacturing the desired structure by
removing materials using a subtractive or formative manufacturing
method [215]. It lets the user print with multiple materials, including
biodegradable polymers. AM’s versatility and functionality for
manufacturing composite materials have proven beneficial for
load-bearing and energy absorption applications [216–222]. Some of
the common AM technologies are material extrusion (ME), material
jetting (MJ), powder bed fusion (PBF), vat polymerisation (VP), and
binder jetting (BJ). The various techniques that have been used to
additively manufacture energy absorbing structures have been exten­
sively reviewed by many authors [2,31,51,52,56,58,176,214,223–226].
Here, we conclude by the examining how these techniques are best
suited to particularly manufacture bioinspired lightweight porous
structures in order to evaluate their energy absorbing capabilities by
subjecting to various impact loading scenarios.
Table 6 provides a summary (based on Fig. 16) of the several porous
structures derived from nature have been mimicked and manufactured
using various AM technologies.
3.1. Material extrusion
Material extrusion (ME) is a commonly used AM process that in­
volves the continuous flow of material via a heated nozzle and the
deposition of material at a specified route in a layer-by-layer arrange­
ment to build a 3D object as shown in Fig. 17(A). This process focuses on
the thermo-plasticity of the polymer filament, which allows it to fuse
17
Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
together while printing and then harden at room temperature thereafter.
The primary processing factors that impact the mechanical character­
istics of printed components are layer thickness, breadth, and orienta­
tion of filaments [237]. Mechanical weakness of the printed sample is
usually caused by inter-layer distortion [238].
It is regarded to be one of the most straightforward and cost-effective
AM processes. Most of the time, this process is appropriate for
manufacturing prototypes of varying sizes, shapes, and numbers. In
addition, a variety of thermoplastic materials may be utilised to fabri­
cate prototypes and final products for various applications [239,240].
Material extrusion processes are used to create prototypes of design
that undergoes low velocity impact tests to understand energy absorp­
tion capability, stiffness and fracture propagation. Material extrusion
has been studied by Peng et al. [196] and Peng et al. [230] to test their
biomimetic designs as illustrated on Table 6. Gyroid, tube, foam and
honeycomb are some of the structures that was successfully printed
through the material extrusion process.
The dual extruded material extrusion technique has been used to
create impact-resistant bio-inspired structures that are lightweight and
strong. In many natural designs, multi-material printing gives the
advantage of integrating rigid and soft materials in a single structure
[241]. However, poor surface quality, a sluggish printing rate, and
dimensional limits are some of the limitations of this process that must
still be addressed. As a result of the availability of low-cost materials and
nozzles, material extrusion has gained widespread acceptance due to its
versatility in terms of hardware and software [52].
3.2. Material jetting
Material jetting (MJ) is an AM process that sprays photopolymer
resin droplets onto a workpiece and cures them using ultraviolet (UV)
rays [53]. In this process, a stable ceramic suspension, such as zirconium
oxide powder in water [242], is pushed into the injection nozzle and
deposited onto the substrate in the form of droplets. The droplets then
fuse together to produce a continuous pattern that solidifies to a strong
enough strength to keep successive layers of printed materials in posi­
tion as shown in Fig. 17(B). This approach is quick and efficient, and it
provides greater freedom in the design and printing of complicated
structures.
Multiple UV curable materials may be deposited simultaneously
during the material jetting process to produce multi-material objects
[243]. High resolution, a smooth surface, and the ability to print with
several materials are all advantages that are crucial to manufacturing
bioinspired structures. The end products of this print process are
generally used for low velocity impact applications. For example, Zor­
zetto and Ruffoni [233] focused on studying tubules structures using the
biomimetic approach by taking inspiration from a wood. They have used
stiff polymer such as VeroWhitePlus to print their biomimetic structures.
Their findings, along with other researchers who have incorporated
material jetting process, is summarised in Table 6.
MJ is costly when compared to other AM methods, despite its
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Table 6
A summary of mimicked bio-inspired porous structures, their findings, methods of AM used, materials and the benefits and drawbacks of those methods.
Bio-inspired Type of Findings Materials Benefits Drawbacks
sources porous
structures

Material Extrusion
Sea urchin [196] Gyroid Increased bending stiffness, strength, and ABS Low cost to Weak mechanical
energy absorption capacity with an increase manufacture properties
in relative density of the TPMS core Higher speed range Layer-by-layer finish
The bending stiffness is similar for sandwich Simplicity Limited materials (only
structures with different core topologies at a thermoplastics)
certain core density
Horse hoof Tube Cracks are diverted away, diffusing stresses, PLA
[227] and maintaining structural integrity
Specimens at 70◦ layer angle absorbed the
highest amount of energy
Increasing layer thickness results in higher
peak force and energy absorption
Graphite Gyroid Unique layered deformation mechanism PLA
(Schwarzites) promises high load bearing and impact-
[228] resistant
Trabecular bone Foam Sequential buckling and collapse mechanisms Tough nylon
[229] results in a 29% reduction in the peak and
69% increase in energy absorption
Grass stem [230] Honeycomb Superb mechanical properties at a low density pr-GO ink Compatible with fast High cost
Bio-inspired structure demonstrated to serve and large-scale Long processing time
as the compressible electrodes in high- fabrication Mechanical post-
performance TENG Macroscopic processing work is
Balsa wood [43] Triangular 3D printed porous composites composed of Epoxy-based ink geometry and size necessary
honeycomb orientated fibre-filled epoxy has exceptional are easily Need to design flexible ink
mechanical properties controllable formulation to print wide
The build path can be spatially controlled to range of ceramics
adjust characteristics such as stiffness,
composition, and toughness
Cortical bone Squared Compressive strength comparable to human Hydro-gel based ink
[231] honeycomb bone
Potential for the repair and regeneration of
load-bearing bone defects
Opened a broad array of applications,
including tissue engineering
Material Jetting
Whale [232] Tube Efficient compressive strength due to N/A Ability to print large Maintaining workability
anisotropic fracture toughness and structures Coarse resolution
hierarchical features Quick printing Lack of adhesion between
Structure plays a role with competing factors layers
of hydration and loading rate in fracture
Incorporation of hollow tubules composed of
filaments-matrix provides the best response
Wood [233] Tube Thin reinforcement fibrils orientated VeroWhitePlus (stiff polymer) and
perpendicular to the main loading directions TangoPlus (rubber-like transparent
is used to enhance strength and energy material)
absorption
Soft incompressible hydrogel-like and
hydrated matrices are mechanically
advantageous in the stress-transfer
mechanism among fibres
The designed cylinders with different helix
orientations have the potential to be
assembled into larger structures showing
tailored spatial variations in mechanical
properties
Cortical bone Foam Bone-inspired design is critical for toughness VeroBlackPlus and VeroMagenta
[234] application (stiff materials), TangoPlus and
The matrix reduces the stress concentration at TangoBlackPlus (compliant
the crack tip and makes the composite less materials)
sensitive to the presence of flaws
The designed sample promotes a stable crack
propagation due to crack deviation for the
circular reinforcement
Vat Polymerisation
Butterfly wings Gyroid The designed structures have a higher Photopolymerizable acrylic resin Fine resolution Very limited materials
[197] property with respect to foams and lattices (Standard Blend Red) High quality Slow printing
Compared to aluminium sandwich structures, Expensive
the bio-inspired design ha a lower modulus
due to the core, which was made of elastomer
Minimising the mass of the structure as the
(continued on next page)

18
S.H. Siddique et al. Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051

Table 6 (continued )
Bio-inspired Type of Findings Materials Benefits Drawbacks
sources porous
structures

solid part directly connects the porous core

compared to the standard sandwich structures
Power Bed Fusion
Beetle [235] Honeycomb After reaching the compressive strength, the N/A Fine resolution Slow printing
stress-strain of the bio-inspired design High quality Expensive
contains a plateau region that exploits the High porosity in binder
material strength of metal method
The bio-inspired design has high
independence and stability when placed
under out-of-plane compression
Cancellous bone Lattice Minimising support structures is important to Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4 V)
[29] minimise manufacturing cost
Kagome truss core structures were found to
perform better than conventional honeycomb
Optimisation of the Kagome truss parameters
depends on the load case
Bone [236] Foam Layer orientation within the part has a Amorphous calcium polyphosphate
significant influence on the compressive (CPP)
strength of the structure
The mechanical strength can be tuned along
the orientation of maximum loading

Fig. 16. Classification of types of 3D printing with respect to impact loading conditions.

benefits. It uses photosensitive materials, which might damage the
quality of the finished item if the curing process is not carried out with
care. Furthermore, post-processing is required for the MJ final pieces,
which increases the overall manufacturing time [244]. A multitude of
research is being conducted on functional polymer resins [245,246] and
their deposition strategies [247,248] to increase the durability of MJ
components.
The capabilities of multi-material jet printing have been studied to
manufacture protective armours that can withstand high velocity im­
pacts which inspired by the exoskeleton of ancient fish [52], natural
seedpods [249], and flexible biomimetic shark skin with custom-made
surface roughness [250,251]. The printed objects of these examples
were typically manufactured at the centimetre scale [44].
Multi-material ink jet printing enables the possibility of fabricating
simultaneously strong and tough structural components using monomer
inks that would lead to weak and soft, or brittle and stiff polymers if
made homogeneous.
3.3. Vat polymerisation
Vat polymerisation (VP) is a process of using a vat-filled photo­
polymer along with a light source, to harden layers and construct a 3D
object [252]. It is one of the commonly used AM processes.
VP is one of the oldest methods of AM, which was invented in 1986
[253]. Initiating a chain reaction on a layer of monomer solution is
accomplished by the application of ultraviolet light. The monomers
(which are primarily acrylic or epoxy-based) are UV-active and imme­
diately transform to polymer chains after being activated. Following
polymerisation, a pattern inside the resin layer solidifies, allowing the
succeeding layers to be held in place by the pattern as shown in Fig. 17
(C). Following the end of the printing process, the unreacted resin is
removed. Some printed components may require a post-process treat­
ment, such as heating or photocuring, in order to obtain the mechanical
performance that is required [223]. The printed samples can be used to
perform tests that are subjected to low velocity impact conditions.
Previous studies by Pelanconi and Ortona [197] demonstrated that
photopolymerizable acrylic resin (standard blend red) can be opted to
print biomimetic gyroid structures. High-quality components may be
printed with vat polymerisation at a fine resolution as low as 10 µm
[254,255]. On the contrary, it is a time-consuming and expensive pro­
cess, with a limited selection of printing materials to choose from.
Furthermore, the kinetics of the reaction as well as the curing process are
both complicated. The intensity of the light source and the length of time
the layer is exposed to, are the primary parameters influencing the
thickness of each layer. Vat polymerisation can be utilised efficiently for
the additive manufacturing of intricate nanocomposites [256], and it is

19
S.H. Siddique et al.
Fig. 17. Schematic illustration of 4 AM processes: (A) Material extrusion (B) Material jetting (C) Vat polymerisation (D) Powder bed fusion [223].
becoming increasingly popular in understanding failure behaviours of
bionic suture joints [257,258].
3.4. Powder bed fusion
Powder bed fusion processes are characterised by using thin layers of
extremely fine powders that are evenly distributed and tightly packed on
a platform. An ultraviolet laser beam or a binder is employed to fuse
together the particles in each layer. In order to construct the final 3D
component, consecutive powder layers are rolled on top of previous ones
and fused together as shown in Fig. 17(D). A vacuum is used to remove
the surplus powder, and if necessary, additional processing and details
such as coating, sintering, or infiltration are carried out.
Among the most important parameters influencing the effectiveness
of this technique are powder size distribution and packing, both of
which affect how dense the printed component will be [259]. The laser
can only be utilised with powders that have a low melting/sintering
temperature, whilst a liquid binder should be used in all other situations.
A range of materials, including polymers, metals, and alloy powders,
may be sintered using powder bed fusion process. The laser scanning
used in powder bed fusion does not completely melt the powders, and
the high local temperature on the surface of the grains causes the
powders to fuse at the molecular level as a result of the elevated local
temperature. However, in some powder bed fusion process, the particles
are fully melted and fused together after being laser scanned, resulting in
better mechanical characteristics than traditional methods [260]. Metal
printed end products have the capability of being used where products
may be subjected to high-velocity impact or shock [261–263].
The two most important elements impacting the sintering process are
the power of the laser and the speed with which it scans. Powder bed
fusion’s primary benefits are its fine resolution and good print quality,
which make it particularly well suited for printing complex structures
with fine details. Advanced applications such as scaffolds for tissue en­
gineering, lattice structures, aerospace, and electronics are made
possible by the usage of this technology. The major advantage of this
approach is that the powder bed is employed as a support, which
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
eliminates the need to remove supporting material that would otherwise
be necessary. The primary disadvantages of the powder bed fusion
process include time-consuming, comparatively costly, and high
porosity when the powder is fused with a binder, which are undesirable.
When a liquid binder is used, the procedure is referred to as binder
jetting. Binder jetting is affected by several factors such as binder
chemical composition, particle size and shape, deposition speed, the
interplay between the binder and powder, and post-processing methods.
A range of biomimetic porous structures such as honeycomb, lattice
and foam has been explored and printed by Zhang et al. [235], Ullah
et al. [29], and Vlasea et al. [236] using the powder bed fusion process.
Titanium alloy and amorphous calcium polyphosphate are some exam­
ples of powders that was utilised to generate the biomimetic design
which have shown satisfactory mechanical properties for lightweight
and energy absorption functions (shown as on Table 6).
3.5. Limitations and research gap
Currently available additive manufacturing machines are incapable
of fabricating structures from nano-to-macro scale. All of the methods
discussed above can create structures with intricate geometries and
materials, but they cannot create designs smaller than 1 µm. To manu­
facture bioinspired structures with the same scale as observed in living
organisms, advances in additive manufacturing must be made in order
to manufacture structures with a wide range of hierarchy. Additionally,
biological materials are regarded as composites with well-defined in­
terfaces. Bioinspired structures made with multi-material additive
manufacturing techniques can’t control how the materials mix at the
interface, which can lead to structures with undesirable properties.
Additively manufactured materials are also prone to fatigue damage as
they are often characterised by poor geometrical accuracy, affected by
the manufacturing process, and structural weakening the material itself
has porous architecture [264]. Researchers are investigating into how
different mixes of materials and amounts of each can improve the
properties of a manufactured composite [53,214].
Based on the mentioned limitations, future researches can be
S.H. Siddique et al.
dedicated to,
• Identifying and extending current limits of additive manufacturing
technologies to more closely replicate the rich variety of complex
biological architectures.
• Developing strategies to implement hierarchical organisation in
printed parts.
• Utilising additive manufactured composites as model systems to
investigate structure-property relationships in bioinspired and bio­
logical material.
Further studies in these areas will complement the merger of additive
manufacturing and biological design principles as an effective pathway
towards the design and fabrication of next generation innovative light-
weight structures.
3.6. Industrial applications
Due to additive manufacturing’s limitations in geometry, process
speed, surface finish and their cost of raw materials and equipments, the
industrial applications remains limited to aerospace, medical and
research arenas. Porous materials have a wide array of applications such
as vibration control, shock absorption, thermal insulation and many
more [265]. However, our target applications are focused towards
lightweight structures and crashworthiness applications, particularly for
their high energy stiffness, high energy strength and energy absorption
characteristics.
In metal additive manufacturing, hundreds of variable may affect the
outcome of the process and the quality of the manufactured parts.
Different types of major defects may occur such as porosity formation,
formation of unwanted microstructure, residual stress and micro-
cracking. Post-processing methods are important for quality improve­
ment. Thus, it reduces the effects of some of these defects types [266].
Knowing how to improve the final product leads to processes and parts
being qualified for use in critical applications such as rocket engines in
aerospace or bone implants in medical industries.
When it comes to light-weight applications, the porous architecture
of lattice structures reduces the weight of the part and its fabrication
time. In the automotive industry, reduction of the mass of any parts of
vehicles directly influences their fuel consumption, which is increasing
in demand for higher fuel efficiency and lower carbon footprint. Other
applications of lightweight cellular structures include a diesel piston, a
fluid pump, racing car cylinder head and many more. All of these
components reduces the mass of the structure while fulfilling mechan­
ical performance requirement [265].
3.7. Sustainability of additive manufacturing
Sustainability studies on additive manufacturing precisely focuses on
cost assessment [267], environmental impact assessment [268], and
safety issues around additive manufacturing materials and processes
[269].
A well-built cost model should take into account of several factors in
the system such as material costs, machine costs, build time, energy
consumption and labour. From the perspective of life cycle, cost model
should also include material extraction, material refining,
manufacturing, and transportation. According to current research on
additive manufacturing costs, material costs and AM system costs are
two main cost components. With continuing centralised manufacturing,
AM can be cost effective for producing small batches. However, as
automation improves, distributed production may become more cost
effective. Due to a lack of examining supply chain effects such as in­
ventory and transportation costs, current studies are limited in the scope
of cost assessment [267].
The life cycle assessment (LCA) is a general approach for considering
the environmental impact of AM. LCA is a method for assessing the
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Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
environmental effect of a product or system throughout the course of its
life cycle [270]. LCA on additive manufacturing considers two aspects:
the first is the component’s entire life-cycle stages (raw material
extraction, material processing, manufacturing, distribution, and end of
life) and the second is the process’s objectives to estimate quantitatively
all the resource consumption of the set part process [271]. Research has
demonstrated that AM has a lower environmental impact on the process
and material utilisation [272]. However, due to the complexity of the
additive manufacturing supply chain, research on material processing,
distribution, and end-of-life stages remains difficult.
The social impact assessment of additive manufacturing is primarily
concerned with the risks to human safety posed by various routes of
exposure to metal powders. Workers on AM processes that utilise metals,
particularly metal powders, may come into contact with them in a va­
riety of ways, including inhalation, oral, and dermal exposure. To avoid
such threats, safety measures must be properly designed. However, the
social impact assessment must take into account the broader influence of
the additive manufacturing supply chain. Social life cycle assessment
can be used to study the societal impact (e.g., worker, consumer, local
community, and society) of AM manufacturing development as it tran­
sits from traditional manufacturing processes [273,274].
3.8. Trends in additive manufacturing
As techniques are refined and new tools become available, inter­
esting trends have emerged in biomimetic design for additive
manufacturing. Some of which are stated below.
• The topology optimisation software at present operates on the to­
pology itself, where latticing is not part of the simulation-driven
design process. The recent software tools have emerged where the
two are combined in the same design process. The most widely used
one is CogniCAD™ by ParaMatters, Inc. for designing lightweight
applications [225].
• Development of multi-scale optimisation approaches for cellular
material design as mentioned by Osanov and Guest [275]. In this
approach, the unit cell domain discretised into elements which are
then themselves optimised using topology optimisation methods. A
unit cell so designed can then be used to compute effective
properties.
• Because of the complex shapes of bionic design, it is often necessary
to use support structures for overhanging areas during 3D printing.
This could be an issue during the post processing as the supports have
to be removed and surface finished. EBM technology (Arcam EBM)
can be used that requires less support when printing [276]. Com­
panies such as EOS and Velo3D (both use LPBF technology) have
improved their software scanning strategies and process control
parameters, which allowed print designs with overhangs that are less
than 15 ◦ C, and large inner diameters without support [225].
• The introduction of standards for AM and non-destructive testing in
AM is becoming an important aspect in ensuring reliability in AM
processes. Inspecting intricate parts is also important in the field of
aerospace, and microCT is the best method for doing so. High reso­
lution CT scanning analysis the defects found on the printed spec­
imen. In-line monitoring of the build process is currently under
investigation with many options to highlight problems during the
build process in real time.
• Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is becoming increasing popular for
improving part density for additively manufactured metal parts for
aerospace. The HIP process closes pores and improves the micro­
structure of the printed parts.
In general, the use of biomimicry for additive manufacturing is
growing quickly. These additively manufactured parts have practical
engineering applications. Few reasons are due to the availability of
metal powders, the development of appropriate software tools, and
S.H. Siddique et al.
interest in companies investing in technologies.
4. Summary
Porous structures have a significant role in determining the impact
resistance of a material. Every biological material is porous to some
degree and they have various forms and densities. Porous materials are
often used in applications to increase energy absorption and reduce
overall weight. These structures have the potential to be utilised as
strong, lightweight components depending on how they are designed.
Nature has developed structures with generally optimum charac­
teristics. Researchers may benefit from these resources since they offer
important and practical ideas, as well as proven and established tech­
niques for creating high-performance materials and structures that are
resilient to impact loading. Even though conventional manufacturing
methods are unable to manufacture these complicated structures, 3D
printing is capable of fabricating structures with almost any shape. The
use of biomimicry in conjunction with 3D printing technology has
resulted in the fabrication of materials and structures with enhanced
physical characteristics for use in different engineering applications.
This paper highlighted the different categories of biomimetic porous
structures and identified the species that comprised these features. Most
of the recent and past investigations of these species are discussed based
on their mimicable features. Some of the AM processes such as, material
extrusion, material jetting, vat polymerisation and powder bed fusion
are used to manufacture intricate biomimetic porous structures were
broadly discussed. The paper has focused on the limitations, industrial
applications, sustainability and the current trends in the field of additive
manufacturing. Lastly, a summary of materials used for 3D printing,
benefits and drawbacks of each process were listed.
We feel that the discussions that have taken place will pave the
pathway for more future studies in the domains indicated above. Engi­
neering materials that are inspired by nature have a wide range of ap­
plications in the design industry, and further study is needed to fully
recognise the benefits of nature and fill the research gaps.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Paul J. Hazell: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Methodol­
ogy, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Shakib
Hyder Siddique: Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Data cura­
tion, Conceptualization. Hongxu Wang: Writing – review & editing,
Supervision, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation,
Conceptualization. Ali A.H. Ameri: Writing – review & editing, Visu­
alization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.
Juan P. Escobedo: Writing – review & editing, Formal analysis, Data
curation, Conceptualization.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge The University of New South Wales
(UNSW), Australia for their TFS scholarship (Ref Number: 5343733) and
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
CSIRO’s Data61 unit for their top-up scholarship (Position Number:
50083835).
22
Additive Manufacturing 58 (2022) 103051
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