Kites can best fly in winds about 10 km/h. Any wind near or above 20 km/h is strong enough to break most of the conventional kites. This is a reason that explains why broken kites can often be found in a kite-flying spot. Here, inspired by insect wings, we designed and 3D printed kites that can fly, and successfully survive, in strong wind speeds of about 80 km/h. The bio-inspired design allowed us to combine two characteristics which are often mutually exclusive: loading-bearing and durability. Our developed design principle could give rise to a universal paradigm for developing load-bearing, yet durable, engineering structures.
You can find our article here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2020.109354
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