Wood as a bioinspiring material

Wood is one of the natural materials that inspired mankind very early to imitate some of its features to develop new “intelligent” artificial materials. The properties of wood are optimized in various respects and in various areas. It exhibits, for example, excellent mechanical properties together with low density, and both are determined by its structural design. In the present paper, the effects of structural features of wood on selected mechanical properties and especially fracture properties are discussed. Some examples of how man-made materials are tailored by mimicking wood's intriguing optimization principles are provided.