STUDY ON THE STRUCTURAL STRENGTH OF THE MANTIS SHRIMP

Abstract

THE MANTIS SHRIMP IS A CRUSTACEAN KNOWN FOR HAVING THE FASTEST STRIKE IN NATURE. MANTIS SHRIMPS ARE COMMONLY CLASSIFIED AS "SPEARER" OR "SMASHER". THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY IS ON THE SMASHER BECAUSE THEY ARE KNOWN TO STRIKE THEIR OWN KIND AND SO THEIR TELSON WHICH THEY USE FOR DEFENCE IS LIKELY TO BE STRUCTURED TO WITHSTAND IMPACT LOADING. QUASI-STATIC LOADING AND BALLISTIC TESTS PERFORMED ON THE TELSON OF THE SMASHER SHOW SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO SPEARER TELSON AND CRAB CARAPACE. USING SEM IMAGING, THE CUTICLE OF THE TELSON IS FOUND TO BE COMPOSED OF CHITIN-PROTEIN FIBRES ARRANGED IN A HELICOIDAL CONFIGURATION. BASED ON THE HELICOIDAL CONFIGURATION, CARBON-EPOXY LAMINATES ARE FABRICATED AND TESTED UNDER QUASI-STATIC BENDING AND BALLISTIC TESTS. NUMERICAL SIMULATION IS ALSO PERFORMED TO ELUCIDATE THE DAMAGE MECHANISMS. MICRO-CT SCANS AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS SHOW THAT THE HELICOIDAL CONFIGURATION EXHIBITS IMPROVED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DUE TO OPTIMISED USE OF MATERIAL.