The selection mechanism of mineral bridges at the interface of stacked biological materials for a strength-toughness tradeoff

The strength-toughness tradeoff in biological materials such as nacre and bone is essentially due to their stacked microstructures formed by hard and soft phases. In some of these materials, purely soft phase acts as interface layers linking hard phases (platelets), while in some others, hard-phase bridges exist in the soft phase to form a hybrid interface. In order to disclose the selection mechanism of such different interface structures in biological materials, a novel shear-lag model with an interface consisting of alternatively distributed elasto-plastic (soft) and brittle-elastic (hard) segments is proposed. Using this model, solutions of tensile stress and tensile displacement in hard platelets and shear stresses in soft and hard interfacial segments are analytically achieved. Effects of the hybrid interface on the effective mechanical performances of the composite are analyzed, the results of which are well consistent with the existing experimental observations in biocomposites and bio-inspired composites. The most important finding is that the fracture strain of the soft phase has a decisive effect on the selection of a purely soft-phase interface or a hybrid interface of hard and soft phases in stacked biological materials in order to realize a tradeoff between strength and toughness. When the failure strain of the soft phase is relatively small, such as nacre, the purely soft-phase interface is too weak to transfer enough load to the platelet, and hard bridges are necessarily required to reinforce the interface and guarantee an efficient load transfer. When the soft phase has a sufficiently large failure strain, such as bone, the purely soft-phase interface is tough enough to sustain a large shear deformation, realizing an efficient load transfer and adequate utilization of all constituents, while an additional hard bridge is not conducive to the composite toughness due to its reducing effect on the interfacial shear deformation. The results not only help people gain a deeper understanding of the secrets behind the construction of different interfaces in biological materials, but also provide useful guidance for interface optimization design in strong and tough artificial materials.