A remarkable deep-sea sponge has inspired researchers to develop a new generation of lightweight materials that are both stronger and better at handling flowing air or water.
The breakthrough could lead to improved aircraft components, underwater structures and even medical devices.
Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University based their work on the Venus’ flower basket, a glass sponge that lives more than 500 meters beneath the ocean surface.
Although it appears delicate, the sponge has an incredibly strong yet lightweight skeleton that has fascinated researchers for nearly two centuries.
The team’s new study, published in Nature Communications, introduces a computer-based design system that allows engineers to create materials that balance two important goals at the same time: mechanical strength and efficient fluid flow.
These two properties are often difficult to achieve together. A structure designed to be very strong may create turbulence when air or water flows around it, while a design that improves fluid flow may sacrifice strength.
The researchers wanted to solve both problems at once.
The Venus’ flower basket provided the perfect model. Its intricate silica skeleton allows it to survive the crushing pressures and strong currents of the deep ocean for thousands of years. At the same time, its unique lattice-like structure guides water smoothly through and around the sponge, helping it capture food while avoiding unnecessary stress from ocean currents.
Inspired by this natural design, the researchers built an automated computer framework that combines mechanical engineering calculations with advanced fluid dynamics simulations. Users simply specify the performance they want, and the system automatically evaluates hundreds of possible designs, gradually improving them until it finds the best balance between strength and fluid performance.
The software uses two well-established engineering methods. Finite Element Analysis predicts how structures respond to forces, while Computational Fluid Dynamics simulates how liquids or gases move around an object. By combining both approaches, the new framework can optimize materials in ways that were previously difficult to achieve.
After designing the new metamaterials on the computer, the team produced physical samples using a 3D printer. They then tested both their strength and their behavior in flowing water to confirm that the simulations accurately predicted real-world performance.
The results were impressive. On average, the optimized materials were able to withstand about 140% greater loads before buckling compared with randomly designed structures, without requiring any additional material.
The researchers also found that introducing only a small amount of carefully placed open space—about 5% of the structure’s volume—greatly reduced a phenomenon known as vortex shedding. This occurs when flowing air or water creates swirling vortices behind an object, producing repeating forces that can make structures vibrate. Over time, these vibrations can cause fatigue and eventually lead to failure.
By carefully shaping the material, the new designs allowed fluids to flow more smoothly, significantly reducing these damaging vibrations while maintaining structural strength.
The researchers believe their optimization framework could be used to design a wide range of advanced materials for practical applications. Potential uses include underwater pipelines and offshore structures, aircraft wings and helicopter components, as well as medical stents that improve the flow of blood and other bodily fluids.
The study demonstrates how millions of years of natural evolution can provide valuable ideas for solving modern engineering challenges. By learning from one of the ocean’s most remarkable creatures, scientists have shown that future materials can become both stronger and smarter through better design rather than simply using more material.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
Source: UC Berkeley.
