Journal of Bionic Engineering (2025) 22:1304–1321https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-025-00683-y

Bio-inspired Design Approach and Experimental Validation of a Holistic Lightweight Gear

Nils Niebuhr1  · Philipp Thomaneck2  · Lars Friedrichs1  · Marc Pillarz1  · Axel von Freyberg2  · Andreas Fischer2

1 Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Am Handelshafen 12, D-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany 

2 Bremen Institute for Metrology, Automation and Quality Science, University of Bremen, Linzer Stra?e 13, D-28359 Bremen, Germany

Abstract 

Lightweight structures for gears enable a reduction in material usage while maintaining the technical function of the gear. Previous approaches have pursued the strategy of lightweight structures in the gear wheel body. By taking inspiration from biological models and utilizing material savings in the gear rim, new design approaches for the lightweight design of gears can be realized. For this reason, a holistic biological design approach for spur gears is presented. In addition to the method of topology optimization, a biologically inspired approach based on diatoms is introduced, which achieves a weight reduction of over 50% compared to conventional solid gears. Diatom structures are extracted from the oceans, digitally modelled, and adapted to the load conditions of a reference gear by parametric design and simulation optimization. For the experimental validation of the design, a manufactured gear is statically loaded in the nominal load range and analyzed using a tactile geometry gear measurement. The measurement results of selected standard gear parameters show that the gear does not exhibit any plastic deformation for the nominal load capacity of 383 Nm, validating the presented design approach. 

Keywords Bionic engineering · Lightweight gear technology · Material saving · Static load validation