JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #140 - May/June 2021 - 89

BIONICS' work on bio-inspired shape-changing composites
MORPH-Reef project (2020-2023): biomimicry and
4D printing to develop adaptive structures for marine applications
-
A collaborative project between Institut de Recherche Dupuy
de Lome (IRDL), Laboratoire de Biologie et de Chimie
Marine (LBCM) and Tokyo University of Sciences (TUS)
- Funding: Isblue/Brittany region
- Candidate: Thomas Fruleux
- Guidance: Antoine le Duigou, Mickael Castro, Pierre Sauleau
and R. Mastuzaki
The problem of biotic depletion in coastal areas is now recognized by the
scientific community. To remedy this, artificial reefs intended to promote
restocking dynamics have been developed in coastal areas, e.g. in France
and Japan. However, these reefs are often made up of concrete blocks, ship
hulls or used tyres, so they are by no means sustainable solutions.
The Morph-Reef project aims to develop a new bio-inspired artificial reef
concept that is deployable and has a controlled lifespan.
Inspired by the asymmetric microstructure of certain so-called passive
biological structures (pine cones, ears of wheat, etc.), these new reef elements
will propose shape changes according to the different habitats to
be recreated. To this end, they will be manufactured using 4D printing,
where the material's response will be programmed via its architecture. In
addition, their formulation will be optimized in order to act as a physicochemical
substrate for colonizing species as well as allow the active release
of polysaccharides to stimulate the growth of colonizing species.
Morph-reef is a multidisciplinary project at the crossroads of materials science,
mechanics, marine biology and ecology.
3D and 4D printing of high-performance composites reinforced
with synthetic and natural continuous fibres for structural applications
and morphing (2017-2020)
- Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme (IRDL)
- Funding: Brittany region
- Candidate: Guillaume Chabaud
- Academic guidance: Antoine le Duigou and Mickael Castro
This work aims to develop new multi-functional materials produced
by 4D printing. First, the scientific objective is to better
understand the relationship between the process, the induced
microstructure, and the mechanical and hygromechanical properties
in order to target structural applications (such as aeronautics
and sailing) for composite materials reinforced with
synthetic fibres (carbon and glass) and natural fibres (flax).
#1
The second part of this work aims at developing hygromorphic
composites reinforced with continuous fibres (synthetic and
natural) with a bio-inspired bilayer architecture inspired by
pine cone scales.
The conductive behaviour of carbon fibre was used to create
new electrothermo-hygromorph actuators with controlled and
accelerated actuation compared to conventional hygromorphs.
The design freedom provided by 4D printing made it possible
to control the local stiffness and actuation of composite actuators
reinforced with continuous flax fibres.
Guillaume Chabaud finished 2nd in the SAMPE Chapter contest
in 2019 and was qualified for the European contest.
#2
Dr. Antoine le Duigou is an associate professor at the Université de Bretagne Sud's Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lome (Lorient,
France). He obtained his PhD in Materials Science at the Université de Bretagne Sud and Ifremer in 2010, under the supervision of
Pr C. Baley and P. Davies, where he developed natural fibre biocomposites for marine applications. In 2014, he introduced the novel
concept of hygromorph biocomposites. For the first time, the main drawback of natural fibres, moisture sensitivity, is turned into
an advantage thanks to the biomimicry paradigm, resulting in a new functionality for natural fibres. He won the Young Researcher
Award from the French Composites Association (AMAC) in 2017 and from the European Society of Composite Materials (ESCM)
in 2018.In 2017, he defended his professorial thesis dealing with composites materials and natural fibres: From reinforcement to
hygromorph actuators. He has published more than 65 internationally peer reviewed articles and given more than 80 conferences.
From a pedagogical and administrative point of view, Antoine le Duigou is head of the Eco-Design of Polymers and Composites
Master 1 programme.
Dr. Mickaël Castro has been a lecturer at the University of Southern Brittany, France, since 2009. He obtained his PhD at the University
of Saint-Etienne in 2004, studying the morphology and rheological behaviour of co-continuous immiscible polymer blends for lithium
battery applications. During his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota, he studied the rheology of concentrated
surfactant systems under the supervision of Pr. C.W. Macosko. He joined the Materials Engineering Laboratory of Brittany in the
Smart Plastics group in 2006 to develop self-sensing conductive polymer composites as part of a European project under the supervision
of Pr. J-F. Feller. In recent years, his efforts mainly focused on the integration of conductive composite sensors in composite
structures for monitoring the health of composites structural parts (SHM). His work on the monitoring of structural parts and the
submission of a patent resulted in the creation of a start-up (Sense in). More recently, and following internal collaborations, he collaborated
in the development of functional biocomposites for applications of hygromorphic passive actuators, and he participated,
among others, in the addition of conductive formulations in these systems to monitor and/or modify their response kinetics. From a
pedagogical and administrative point of view, Mickael is head of the Eco-Design of Polymers and Composites Master 2 programme
and of the 3D Printing: Innovative Composite Materials university degree programme.
More information:
https://bionics-group.com/
https://www.irdl.fr/
N°140 May - June 2021 / jec composites magazine
89

https://www.bionics-group.com/ https://www.irdl.fr/

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #140 - May/June 2021

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