Root Systems Research for Bioinspired Resilient Design: A Concept Framework for Foundation and Coastal Engineering

Abstract

The continuous increase in population and human migration to urban and coastal areas leads to the expansion of built environments over natural habitats. Current infrastructure suffers from environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem services. Foundations are static anchoring structures dependent on soil compaction, which reduces water infiltration and increases flooding. Coastal infrastructure reduces wave action and landward erosion but alters natural habitat and sediment transport. On the other hand, root systems are multifunctional, resilient, biological structures that offer promising strategies for the design of civil and coastal infrastructure, such as adaptivity, multifunctionality, self-healing, mechanical and chemical soil attachment. Therefore, the biomimetic methodology is employed to abstract root strategies of interest for the design of building foundations and coastal infrastructures that prevent soil erosion, anchor structures, penetrate soils, and provide natural habitat. The strategies are described in a literature review on root biology, then these principles are abstracted from their biological context to show their potential for engineering transfer. After a review of current and developing technologies in both application fields, the abstracted strategies are translated into conceptual designs for foundation and coastal engineering. In addition to presenting the potential of root-inspired designs for both fields, this paper also showcases the main steps of the biomimetic methodology from the study of a biological system to the development of conceptual technical designs. In this way the paper also contributes to the development of a more strategic intersection between biology and engineering and provides a framework for further research and development projects.

Nature inspiration, imitation, and emulation: Biomimicry thinking path to sustainability in the construction industry

“…According to Wurz et al (2022), biosensing strategies exhibited in some natural organisms are shaping the research on the management of cytoskeletal dysregulation. Similarly, the resilient, selfhealing, adaptive, and multifunctional characteristics of root systems offer insights into the design of coastal and civil infrastructure (Stachew et al, 2021). The study of Chenaghlou et al (2020) further noted the inherent adaptivity attribute of natural structures under changing loading conditions (such as the self-centering system of the human spine) to control instability in long-span truss structures.…”

Design methodologies and engineering applications for ecosystem biomimicry: an interdisciplinary review spanning cyber, physical, and cyber-physical systems

“…As some examples, Asuma Janeena et al [62] developed a biological tool based on the design and function of microorganisms to remove toxic heavy metals from wastewater. Lastly, Stachew et al [55] abstracted 25 function-focused design features of tree roots (spanning categories of soil erosion, structural support, soil penetration, conditions for living organisms, and other multi-functions) to design building foundations for coastal climates.…”

“…As could be expected, some studies [41,48,55] employed the internationally standardized methodology for biomimetics, ISO 18458 [20]. This method, previously presented in section 2, was adopted and mentioned explicitly in the study by Stachew et al [55] for designign building foundations based on roots.…”

“…As could be expected, some studies [41,48,55] employed the internationally standardized methodology for biomimetics, ISO 18458 [20]. This method, previously presented in section 2, was adopted and mentioned explicitly in the study by Stachew et al [55] for designign building foundations based on roots. In addition, Parhizkar and Di Marzo Serugendo [41] and Pantoja et al [48] did not explicitly cite the standard, but the methodologies followed were consistent with this approach.…”

Levels of Mapping in Nature-informed Studies - A case study on informed wall

“…Currently these studies shift their focus on material research (Rahimizadeh, Sarvestani, Robles, & Ashrafi, 2022), building systems (Castriotto, Carvalho, & Celani, 2019), component design (Stachew, Houette, & Gruber, 2021) (Son, Kim, & Syal, 2022), and urban design (Zari & Hecht, 2020). As each field brings unique performance criteria, different level of complexity on the retrieved and transferred information from nature to architecture is unavoidable…”