Design in Nature

The structural forms of load-carriers in nature, e.g., trees and bones, have evolved to assure the survival of a species. Structural optimization in nature can provide valuable guidance to engineers designing structures or components. Investigations have shown that the axiom of constant stress determines the structural design of biological load-carriers. Based on this axiom and using the finite element method, computer programs have been developed to transfer biological optimization mechanisms to mechanical and structural engineering design tasks.