November 2002 - Nr. 11
Good Buzz on Bee-Based Science from Berlin
TWIG - The bear has long been Berlin’s official mascot, but a handful of scientists working in the capital city might prefer the bee. As the Handelsblatt reports, the industrious insect has much to teach bionics experts at the Berlin Polytechnic University (Technische Fachhochschule Berlin) as they study the deceptively simple structure of the honeycomb and find ways to apply it to cutting-edge science.
Bee hives are composed of thousands of tiny chambers joined together to form combs. Each chamber serves as a storage or breeding cell. To maximize the capacity of the combs while using as little wax as possible to construct them, bees make each cell hexagonal, creating "Y"-shaped formations that use each cell wall twice. The result is a remarkably lightweight, uniform, sturdy - and highly functional - mosaic.
Dr. Frank Mirtsch, an expert in bionics, a relatively new branch of science that introduces biological systems to industrial applications, and a team of researchers at his eponymous company in Teltower (Brandenburg), have been working over the past decade to copy the bees’ material-saving, lightweight construction methods. Mirtsch explains, "Nature is the model for multifunctional light-weight construction technology. We have discovered that thin materials such as all types of sheet metals and foils can be reinforced and strengthened with the greatest ease if they ‘pop’ into the third dimension of their own accord when minimum hydraulic pressure is applied." The so-called relief structure that results is the very same hexagonal pattern as the one bees have developed.
Mirtsch has found that honeycombed materials offer myriad advantages, from superior stability to beneficial heat and conductivity characteristics to noise-dampening properties - importantly, while retaining all of the characteristics of the original material. Honeycombed materials are already being used by German household appliance company Miele AG to make innovative washing machine drums that wash gently while still being able to achieve spin speeds of up to 1800 rpm, and by industrial lighting manufacturer SITECO to make ultra-light-weight, glare-free lamps. The materials are even used in the extremely thin, tough steel pipes needed for accelerated particle research conducted at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg.
There’s good buzz on bee-based technologies of the future, too: Architects and industrial designers are exploring ways honeycomb structures could be used to improve the efficiency of homes and offices.
