| Sustainability and life quality improvement is not only the primary themes of our society, but the goals of engineering research and design in 21st century. Bionics as an emerging and diverse subject can be regarded as a significant mean to achieve this goal. Since conventional design philosophy is not enough in developing new bridge system, the concept and method of bionics research has been invited into bridge design and optimization in this thesis with discussion of existing problems and future development. The main contents are included five parts:1. Through reviewing the tradition and progress of bionics, the necessity and feasibility of marriage between biology and engineering has been demonstrated.2. Six major aspects in bionic architecture were summarized, including morphological, mechanical, aesthetic, material, functional and neural intimated.3. After dividing bionics into two categories (macro-bionics and micro-bionics), it attempts to address existing problems in bridge engineering field and provides new concepts for future bridges. The procedure for this application for bridge engineering was established and range of bio-inspired method in bridge was discussed, such as design, planning, construction, monitoring, etc.4. By reviewing bridge history, the value target of bio-inspired bridge design was established and the necessity of this design philosophy has been clarified on both macro and micro aspect. In macro-bionic design, morphological, mechanical and aesthetic knowledge in biosystem can be utilized in structural form finding in order to achieve superior structural performance. In micro-bionic design, the improvement for existing bridge system and development of future bridge could be archieved through introducing material, mechanisms and nervous system in biological system.5. Through a number of practical projects, the efficiency of bio-inspired concept and method has been studied in three aspects, including conceptual design, preliminary design and design optimization. Bio-inspired method should be regarded as a significant means for innovation in bridge design and whole field. It would help us to build more sustainable bridges, if we learned from Nature endlessly. |
