Nanomechanical properties of bird feather rachises: exploring naturally occurring fibre reinforced laminar composites

Flight feathers have evolved under selective pressures to be sufficiently light and strong enough to cope with the stresses of flight. The feather shaft (rachis) must resist these stresses and is fundamental to this mode of locomotion. Relatively little work has been done on rachis morphology, especially from a mechanical perspective and never at the nanoscale. Nano-indentation is a cornerstone technique in materials testing. Here we use this...