Bionics as a scientific discipline deals with the technical implementation and application of construction, process and development principles of biological systems.
A bionic structure is a structure inspired by nature, mainly in its functionality. This is typically done by exploring the living world and recognizing structure-function relationships in particular animal or plant species, abstracting general principles from these biological systems, and appropriately transferring these principles into the design of the structure.
The aim of the transfer of natural principles and the application of natural forms in the construction is to achieve a structural efficiency comparable to that of sustainable biological systems.
Although the manufacturing effort may be a bit higher, the advantages can be found in the utilization of the material. The fillets in the example model can minimize singularities at the intersection points.
A well-known example of bionic structures are the columns of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, whose shape was inspired by a tree structure. In this case, the main advantage of this imitation of nature is avoiding high notch stresses; an exemplary explanation why the inspiration by biological systems and the correct implementation thereof can mostly serve to improve and optimize a structure. The Gherkin in London is also a biologically-inspired building, whose supporting system works similarly to the glass sponge Euplectella aspergillum, and again shows the huge potential of the use of bionics in structural design.
Nature offers an infinite number of technical solutions to unanswered engineering questions. What bionics is proposing in this context is a new perspective, where humans can learn from animals and plants through targeted research and open thinking.
Source: Hmidet, I. (2020). Bionic Design: Architectural Innovations Inspired by Nature.