Bionic Design of High-Performance Joints: Differences in Failure Mechanisms Caused by the Different Structures of Beetle Femur–Tibial Joints

Beetle femur-tibial joints can bear large loads, and the joint structure plays a crucial role. Differences in living habits will lead to differences in femur-tibial joint structure, resulting in different mechanical properties. Here, we determined the structural characteristics of the femur-tibial joints of three species of beetles with different living habits. The tibia of Scarabaeidae <i>Protaetia brevitarsis</i> and Cetoniidae <i>Torynorrhina fulvopilosa</i> slide through cashew-shaped bumps on both sides of the femur in a guide rail consisting of a ring and a cone bump. The femur-tibial joint of Buprestidae <i>Chrysodema radians</i> is composed of a conical convex tibia and a circular concave femur. A bionic structure design was developed out based on the characteristics of the structure of the femur-tibial joints. Differences in the failure of different joint models were obtained through experiments and finite element analysis. The experimental results show that although the spherical connection model can bear low loads, it can maintain partial integrity of the structure and avoid complete failure. The cuboid connection model shows a higher load-bearing capacity, but its failure mode is irreversible deformation. As key parts of rotatable mechanisms, the bionic models have the potential for wide application in the high-load engineering field.