A Lesma Marinha e a Aviação...

A Lesma-do-Mar e a Indústria Aeronáutica

Limpet's teeth are the strongest material known to man

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have discovered that limpets – small aquatic snail-like creatures with conical shells – have teeth with biological structures so strong they could be copied to make cars, boats and planes of the future.

O dente da Lesma Marinha (Limpet Teeth), Segundo a Universidade de Portsmouth (University of Portsmouth), é o material biológico mais resistente do mundo. Chega a ser 5x mais resistente do que a teia de aranha (Já utilizada para fabricar coletes a prova de bala). 

Um dos animais mais lentos do mundo pode contribuir na construção de carros, navios e até aviões. Engenheiros da Inglaterra descobriram que os dentes do animal são a substância mais resistente já analisadas. A indústria aeronáutica irá se beneficiar da descoberta, pois busca sempre materiais mais leves e resistentes. A indústria automobilística já demonstrou interesse, principalmente o segmento de "high perfomance" como a fórmula 1, por exemplo.

As Lesmas-do-Mar possuem uma língua com dentes capazes de escavar rochas para encontrar comida.

Para se ter ideia, um FIO desse material do tamanho e espessura de um MACARRÃO, suportaria aproximadamente 1500 Kg. 

The Telegraph:

''This discovery means that the fibrous structures found in limpet teeth could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, the hulls of boats and aircraft structures.

''Engineers are always interested in making these structures stronger to improve their performance or lighter so they use less material.''

Limpets' teeth were also found to be the same strength, no matter what the size.

Prof Barber added: ''Generally a big structure has lots of flaws and can break more easily than a smaller structure, which has fewer flaws and is stronger.

''The problem is that most structures have to be fairly big, so they're weaker than we would like. Limpet teeth break this rule as their strength is the same no matter what the size.''

Examining effective designs in nature and then making structures based on these designs is known as 'bio-inspiration'.

Prof Barber said: ''Biology is a great source of inspiration when designing new structures but with so many biological structures to consider, it can take time to discover which may be useful.''

Fonte: UOP News - University of Portsmouth / Jornal Hoje / The Telegraph

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