{"id":22551,"date":"2020-10-22T18:56:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T18:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/22\/beetle-shell-holds-science-secrets-for-air-force-researchers-making-tougher-planes-armor\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:16:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:16:52","slug":"beetle-shell-holds-science-secrets-for-air-force-researchers-making-tougher-planes-armor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/10\/22\/beetle-shell-holds-science-secrets-for-air-force-researchers-making-tougher-planes-armor\/","title":{"rendered":"Beetle shell holds science secrets for Air Force researchers making tougher planes, armor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Comic strip legend Pvt. Beetle Bailey resisted his platoon sergeant\u2019s efforts at soldiering for 70 years by outwitting his hapless nemesis through a variety of schemes and dodges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now his insect namesake \u2014 the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-02840-1\" target=_blank>diabolical ironclad beetle<\/a>\u201d \u2014 is teaching Air Force researchers new ways to resist outside pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beetle\u2019s crush-resistant armor holds secrets that could unlock new ways of making armor or designing stronger <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/beetle-armor-stronger-planes-cb50dd9573d65437de4b5209ccd4a2d8\" target=_blank>airplane materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/07\/29\/are-squid-teeth-the-secret-to-building-self-healing-robots-the-army-thinks-so\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/squidDimeril.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Are squid teeth the secret to building \u2018self-healing\u2019 robots? The Army thinks so<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Protein in squid teeth could hold the solution for self-healing materials.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The beetle study is part of an $8 million project funded by the U.S. Air Force to explore how the biology of creatures can provide solutions to military technological challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re trying to go beyond what nature has done,\u201d said David Kisailus, a materials scientist and engineer at the University of California, Irvine, and co-author of a recently published study on the beetle in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-02840-1\" target=_blank> journal \u201cNature.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers used electron microscopes and CT scans to examine the beetle\u2019s exoskeleton and learn what made it so strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNatural materials, for example those found in bones, teeth and shells, often have exceptional mechanical performance, combining properties such as strength, toughness and self-healing capabilities in ways that cannot be achieved in conventional engineering materials,\u201d the authors wrote in the Nature article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The jigsaw-like construction of the Southern California-woodland beetle\u2019s shell gives it the ability to stand up to compression as much as 39,000 times its weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s the equivalent of a 7.8 million-pound crush on a 200-pound person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When compressed, they found the structure fractured slowly instead of snapping all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you pull them apart,\u201d Zavattieri said, \u201cit doesn\u2019t break catastrophically. It just deforms a little bit. That\u2019s crucial for the beetle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And beetles are not the only organisms that have developed novel approaches to resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force program has also funded similar efforts looking at how research into animals such as mantis shrimp and bighorn sheep could help in the development of impact-resistant materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kisailus and his fellow researchers are looking at the shrimp because, \u201cThe ancient crustaceans are armed with two hammerlike raptorial appendages, called dactyl clubs, that they use to bludgeon and smash their prey,\u201d according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/2020\/08\/17\/uci-materials-scientists-study-a-sea-creature-that-packs-a-powerful-punch\/\" target=_blank>UCI release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those fists can accelerate from its body at more than 50 mph and deliver blows but remain undamaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThink about punching a wall a couple thousand times at those speeds and not breaking your fist,\u201d Kisailus said in the statement. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty impressive, and it got us thinking about how this could be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>The Associated Press contributed to this article.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers are also looking at structures in mantis shrimp and bighorn sheep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,88,89,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3393],"class_list":["post-22551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KZ3NRSUSMRA6XBGPOLI2P6DNUU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2020\/10\/22\/beetle-shell-holds-science-secrets-for-air-force-researchers-making-tougher-planes-armor\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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