3D Printing Copies Nature to Build Lighter, Stronger Products

The inside of a chicken bone looks surprisingly fragile when you crack it open. But that spongy network of tiny struts and empty spaces is strong enough to keep birds flying through powerful winds while staying light enough for takeoff.

For millions of years, nature has built things this way—using smart patterns of holes and material to create lightweight strength. Think honeycomb that holds tons of honey with minimal wax, or seashells that resist crushing ocean pressure despite being mostly empty space inside.

Human engineers have always wanted to copy these designs, but traditional manufacturing made it nearly impossible. Carving metal blocks or pouring plastic into molds can't create those complex, spongy patterns hidden inside solid shells.

That changed when 3D printing matured over the past decade. Instead of cutting away material, printers build objects layer by layer, placing material only exactly where it's needed based on digital designs.

This unlocked what scientists call mesostructures—the internal architecture of objects that sits between microscopic atoms and the overall shape. It's the difference between a solid brick and the lattice ironwork of the Eiffel Tower, both strong but one using vastly less material.

Now these bio-inspired designs are showing up in everyday products. High-end running shoes feature soles with weblike lattice structures that look just like bird bones, offering springiness that solid foam can't match.

Modern bike helmets and football liners are replacing traditional foam padding with 3D-printed lattices that crumple and rebound like miniature jungle gyms. These structures absorb impacts more efficiently than solid materials, similar to how your own porous skull bone protects your brain.

The Ripple Effect

Anne Schmitz, a mechanical engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, studies how these natural patterns work. She uses computer models to test thousands of virtual designs, watching exactly when and how they fail under pressure.

Her research found that wavy patterns with carefully tuned line thickness can absorb energy exceptionally well, failing gradually and safely like a car's crumple zone. Engineers can now make one area of a product stiff and another flexible within a single printed part.

The approach also means less waste. Traditional manufacturing often requires making parts thicker and heavier to add strength, wasting material and creating products that need more energy to transport.

By copying nature's hole-filled blueprints, we're finally building products that are both stronger and lighter while using fewer resources. Sometimes the best innovations come from patterns that have been hiding in plain sight for millions of years.