Building with Artificial Bone

Jun-22-13 Researchers have created a new 3D printed building material inspired by the composition of the human bone.

Developed by a team from MIT, the material’s bone-like, hierarchical pattern gives it strength and durability while allowing the material to remain lightweight and with low density. At the microscopic level, the material resembles a brick wall, with a soft polymer serving as the collagen of bone (or the mortar of the wall), and a stiffer polymer serving at the bone’s strong yet fragile hydroxyapatite (or the bricks of the wall).

According to the team, the 3D printed material has a fracture resistance 22 times that of its individual parts.

Image: Graham Bratzel
The brick-and-mortar pattern of simulated bone and nacre against the backdrop of real nacre found in the inner shell of many mollusks.

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