Investigation on the Energy-Absorbing Properties of Bionic Spider Web Structure

Abstract

In recent years, spider webs have received significant attention due to their exceptional mechanical properties, including strength, toughness, elasticity, and robustness. Among these spider webs, the orb web is a prevalent type. An orb web’s main framework consists of radial and spiral threads, with elastic and sticky threads used to capture prey. This paper proposes a bionic orb web model to investigate the energy-absorbing properties of a bionic spider web structure. The model considers structural parameters such as radial line length, radial line cross-sectional diameter, number of spiral lines, spiral spacing, and spiral cross-sectional diameter. These parameters are evaluated to assess the energy absorption capability of the bionic spider web structure. Simulation results reveal that the impact of the radial line length and spiral cross-sectional diameter on the energy absorption of the spider web is more significant compared to the radial line cross-sectional diameter, the number of spiral lines, and spiral spacing. Specifically, within a radial line length range of 60–80 mm, the total absorbed energy of a spider web is inversely proportional to the radial line length of the web. Moreover, the number of spiral lines and spiral spacing of the spider web, when within the range of 6–10 turns and 4–5.5 mm, respectively, are proportional to the total energy absorbed. A regression equation is derived to predict the optimal combination of structural parameters for maximum energy absorption. The optimal parameters are determined as follows: radial line length of 63.48 mm, radial line cross-sectional diameter of 0.46 mm, ten spiral lines, spiral spacing of 5.39 mm, and spiral cross-sectional diameter of 0.48 mm.