MATERIAL COMPUTATION

257 Material Computation therefore directly linked to the influences of force acting upon it. Material is concentrated in regions of high strength and dispersed in areas where stiffness is not required. The implications of Nature’s structural heterogeneity, achieved through the informed distribution of composites, holds significant implications from a design perspective. The control of material structure and orientation allows for an almost unlimited design space in terms of geometrical and topological variation. It promotes high levels of functional integration through the assignment of graduated properties; it supports the matching between material property distribution and continuous load paths; and, finally, it allows the designer to consider the possibility of adaptive response, and even real growth.