Buckling of Bilayer Laminates - a Novel Approach to Synthetic Papillae

Cephalopods can reversibly change their appearance by expressing papillae – folds, bumps, spikes, or even more complex structures – on their skin for camouflage purposes. This project, in collaboration with Dr. Roger Hanlon, Marine Biological Laboratory, sought to examine the biomechanics of papillae formation, develop methods to simulate papillae formation, and develop biomimetic artificial papillae using synthetic materials. A key hypothesis at the beginning of this project is that some papillae are formed by a skin buckling mechanism where muscular action induces compressive stress on the skin and which then buckles into papillae.