The goal of this report is to provide a new insight into nature as a source of inspiration for optimizing mechanical properties of structural components through functionally graded and/or multi-phased microstructures. It is shown that biologicalstructure is designed to have uniform strength at all positions in both radial and axial directions. Design principles and processes in plants show that plants have a cell-based sensing system for external mechanical stimuli that plays a similar role asthe piezoelectric effect in bones, i.e., mechanical stress/strain changes the stationary electric potential of plants, theryby influencing the growth activity of their load carrying members. The ingenious construction of some selected biomaterialsdemonstrates clearly that it would be better to spend more time and money on developing functionally graded materials governed by uniform strength; for example, structure using the optimal placement of fibers, various microstructures, porous or cellularstructures, etc., rather than developing new materials with high-stiffness.
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