Abstract Fish are a potentially rich source of inspiration for the design of smart materials. Fish exemplify the use of flexible materials to generate forces during locomotion, and a hallmark of fish functional design is the use of body and fin deformation to power propulsion and maneuvering. As a result of nearly 500 million years of evolutionary experimentation, fish design has a number of interesting features of note to materials engineers. In this paper we first provide a brief general overview of some key features of the mechanical design of fish, and then focus on two key properties of fish: the bilaminar mechanical design of bony fish fin rays that allows active muscular control of curvature, and the role of body flexibility in propulsion. After describing the anatomy of bony fish fin rays, we provide new data on their mechanical properties. Three-point bending tests and measurement of force inputs to and outputs from the fin rays show that these fin rays are effective displacement transducers. Fin rays in different regions of the fin differ considerably in their material properties, and in the curvature produced by displacement of one of the two fin ray halves. The mean modulus for the proximal (basal) region of the fin rays was 1.34 GPa, but this varied from 0.24 to 3.7 GPa for different fin rays. The distal fin region was less stiff, and moduli for the different fin rays measured varied from 0.11 to 0.67 GPa. These data are similar to those for human tendons (modulus around 0.5 GPa). Analysis of propulsion using flexible foils controlled using a robotic flapping device allows investigation of the effect of altering flexural stiffness on swimming speed. Flexible foils with the leading edge moved in a heave show a distinct peak in propulsive performance, while the addition of pitch input produces a broad plateau where the swimming speed is relatively unaffected by the flexural stiffness. Our understanding of the material design of fish and the control of tissue stiffness is still in its infancy, and the development of smart materials to assist in investigating the active control of stiffness and in the construction of robotic fish-like devices is a key challenge for the near future.
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