Plants
exhibit a wide range of mechanical properties, engineers find
Biological
structures may help engineers design new materials.
From an
engineer’s perspective, plants such as palm trees, bamboo, maples and even
potatoes are examples of precise engineering on a microscopic scale. Like
wooden beams reinforcing a house, cell walls make up the structural supports of
all plants. Depending on how the cell walls are arranged, and what they are
made of, a plant can be as flimsy as a reed, or as sturdy as an oak.