The predominantly deep-sea hexactinellid sponges are known for their ability to construct remarkably complex skeletons from amorphous hydrated silica. The skeletal system of one such species of sponge, Euplectella aspergillum, consists of a square-grid-like architecture overlaid with a double set of diagonal bracings, creating a chequerboard-like pattern of open and closed cells. Here, using a combination of finite element simulations and mechanical tests on 3D-printed specimens of different lattice geometries, we show that the sponge’s diagonal reinforcement strategy achieves the highest buckling resistance for a given amount of material. Furthermore, using an evolutionary optimization algorithm, we show that our sponge-inspired lattice geometry approaches the optimum material distribution for the design space considered. Our results demonstrate that lessons learned from the study of sponge skeletal systems can be exploited for the realization of square lattice geometries that are geometrically optimized to avoid global structural buckling, with implications for improved material use in modern infrastructural applications.

众所周知，深海的十六烷基海绵具有从无定形的水合二氧化硅构造出非常复杂的骨架的能力。一种这样的海绵，Euplectella aspergillum的骨骼系统，由正方形网格状结构组成，上面覆盖有两组对角线支撑，从而形成了类似于棋盘格状的开闭单元格。在这里，结合有限元模拟和对不同晶格几何形状的3D打印样本进行的机械测试，我们证明了海绵的对角加固策略在给定数量的材料下可获得最高的抗屈曲性。此外，使用进化优化算法，我们证明了我们灵感源自海绵的晶格几何形状接近了所考虑的设计空间的最佳材料分布。我们的结果表明，从海绵骨骼系统研究中获得的经验教训可用于实现几何优化的方格几何体，从而避免整体结构屈曲，