Biomimicry in Design: Learning from Sharkskin

Introduction to Biomimicry

There is a set of trends in the 21st century regarding urban design, product design, and organizational studies. One of these trends is biomimicry — a design philosophy that mimics patterns found in nature. Products inspired by biomimicry are ecologically sound in design, production, and distribution, and they also solve human problems. Such products do not simply imitate the models, systems, and elements of nature for aesthetic inspiration. They mimic nature in function as well as form, because the design of nature actively avoids, anticipates, and solves problems. Products inspired by nature therefore do not operate on a superficial level; they engage deeper principles of utility and sustainability.

Biomimicry looks at nature in specific ways. From an article in The Guardian, Purt writes that "biomimicry is a new science that aims to use nature's best ideas and adapt them for human use. The environment has developed many of the world's most phenomenal masterpieces — such as photosynthesis, self-sustaining ecosystems, and natural selection — so how can humans copy these designs and manufacturing systems to solve some of today's biggest challenges?" (Purt, 2011). Biomimicry looks to nature as a mentor, a model, and a muse.

Biomimicry is just as much a science as it is a design framework. For generations, humans — especially in the West — have believed that science and art or design are wholly separate and divergent disciplines. Biomimicry in general, and the products that spring from it, disrupt that belief. Nature is profoundly beautiful and deeply design-oriented, while simultaneously being the greatest example of engineering known to humanity. Products of biomimicry reflect both qualities. This paper focuses on products that biomimic sharks, evaluating their efficacy and adherence to the principles and philosophy of biomimicry using primary and secondary sources.

Mimicking the traits of sharkskin has applications in more than one industrial realm. Scientists, engineers, and designers are drawing on sharkskin for innovations in oceanography, marine biology, professional athletics, and healthcare. The Biomimicry Institute explains why researchers have paid such close attention to this material:

Sharkskin as a Natural Marvel

"Sharkskin is a multifunctional marvel. Seawater and the countless potential ecto-parasites within it — barnacle larvae, algae, bacteria, and others — are a constant flow hazard for sharks, for whom moving efficiently through water is an imperative. Most shark species move through water with high efficiency in order to catch fast-moving prey, obtain sufficient oxygen through largely passive gills, and maintain buoyancy. Through its ingenious design, their skin turns out to be an essential aid in this behavior by reducing friction drag and auto-cleaning ecto-parasites from their surface." (Biomimicry Institute, 2012)

Sharks' skin is fundamental to their survival, their success, and their reputation as exceptional predators. Researchers therefore chose wisely when selecting sharkskin as a model for solving some of humanity's engineering and medical challenges. Researchers examining sharkskin are particularly interested in decreasing friction while moving through water, and medical researchers find inspiration in sharkskin's self-cleaning properties to help prevent and fight infections.

The Science of Dermal Denticles

What is it specifically about sharkskin that researchers focus upon? All relevant groups — scientists, physicians, technicians, and designers — pay meticulous attention to the structure, texture, and function of sharkskin, aiming to design products that work in the same way. Research into sharkskin biomimicry could prove especially useful to designers of submarines and other products built for underwater transportation or data collection. The Biomimicry Institute offers the following explanation of the underlying mechanism:

"Although a shark's coarse shape is famously hydrodynamic, shark skin is anything but smooth. The very small individual scales of shark skin, called dermal denticles ('little skin teeth'), are ribbed with longitudinal grooves, which result in water moving more efficiently over their surface than it would if the scales were completely featureless. Over smooth surfaces, fast-moving water begins to break up into turbulent vortices, or eddies, in part because the water flowing at the surface of an object moves slower than water flowing further away from the object. This difference in water speed causes the faster water to get 'tripped up' by the adjacent layer of slower water flowing around an object, just as upstream swirls form along riverbanks." (Biomimicry Institute, 2012)

Understanding this mechanism — how microscopic ribbed structures channel water flow and reduce turbulence — is central to translating sharkskin's properties into engineered products. The principle applies wherever reducing drag or preventing surface fouling is a design priority.

Conclusion: Nature as Designer

Nature has been all around us since the beginning of our existence — and before. It is a wonder that humanity has, as a species, taken so long to turn to nature for solutions and design ideas on the scale seen in the 21st century. Perhaps the digital technology that has revolutionized how we experience the world, communicate, socialize, and share can also help us collaborate to create more products from biomimicry — designing for generosity and sustainability alike.