Bio-inspired Bridge Design - Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering - page 232

Fig. 10.1 The biological shape and structural shape in bridge a shape of starfish (photo
Wikimedia Commons); b Hacking Ferry Bridge (photo Wilkinson Eyre Architects); c earthworm
shape (photo Wikimedia Commons); d Webb bridge (photo bridgeworld.net)

Table 10.1 Toward the bio-
inspired bridge

Prototype in
nature

Bio-inspired design goals

Geometry Eye-catching and signature bridge

Structures Material-adapted supporting and deck

system

Mechanism Deployable and moving bridge

Energy Sustainable and multifunctional bridge

Intelligence Self-control and smart bridge

10.2 Bio-inspired Form-Finding

Biological inspiration on engineering design has developed in various aspects, but
still faces new challenges. For example, the tree is a classic prototype in bio-
inspired research (Mattheck 1998 ). The trunk and supporting branches of a tree is a
brilliant example of structural optimization. From a morphological perspective,
many

trees are subjected to wind load and evolutionary transform into an