The red deer antler: Bioinspired design of an Al[sbnd]Si composite with a fenestrated network-particle structure

Conventional Al[sbnd]Si materials always have a coarse and discontinuous Si structure, which limits their application as thermal management materials. Fortunately, nature has evolved efficient strategies to form complex microstructures that exhibit excellent wear resistance and thermal properties; one such example is found in the red deer antler. Here, inspired by the antler structure, Al[sbnd]Si composites with a novel fenestrated network-particle structure (F[sbnd]N) and with a common isolated island structure (I[sbnd]I) are designed and prepared. Subsequently, the dynamic formation of F[sbnd]N is tracked and studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. To investigate the reinforcement mechanisms of F[sbnd]N, the wear resistances and thermal properties of F[sbnd]N and I[sbnd]I are compared and analyzed. Simulation and experimental results show that the reconstruction of a semi-continuous structure promotes the formation of a striated structure, whereas flowing Si particles provide some sites for the formation of the fenestrated structure. The dynamic formation of F[sbnd]N is strongly influenced by the convection–diffusion process and the flow path. Moreover, this biomimetic F[sbnd]N structure exhibits better wear resistance and thermal properties than I[sbnd]I, owing to its strong structural support and high expansion resistance. This work is expected to provide new perspectives on the microstructural design of thermal management materials with good wear resistance.