Bio-inspired Energy Dissipating Structures for Enhanced Airdrop Capabilities

Physical Sciences Inc. and George Mason University will use a biomimetic approach to develop novel biopolymer foams which exhibit high energy dissipating characteristics, low-cost, long-term shelf-stability, and the potential to be entirely produced from cellulosic waste. The team will focus on bio-inspired structures that provide significant advancements over conventional engineered structures to achieve excellent energy absorption capacities. The unique combination of material properties and form factor has the potential to provide a new paradigm for applications ranging from enhanced airdrop to packing and shipping materials and to other fields such as aerospace and construction. In Phase I, PSI will develop a 100% bioderived material integrated into a form factor with high energy dissipation characteristics as confirmed by finite element analysis (FEA) modeling. The Phase I results will provide the basis for Phase II, where we will produce 6”x6” samples for impact testing, and incrementally scale-up the process to a full sized 36”x96” sheet of energy dissipating material. In the Phase II option, we will develop and execute a strategy for scale-up and implementation. The outcome of a successful project will be the development of a new bio-derived energy dissipating material with a bio-inspired form factor that can be inexpensively produced at scale.