Anomalous inapplicability of nacre-like architectures as impact-resistant templates in a wide range of impact velocities

Abstract Nacre is generally regarded as tough body armor, but it was often smashed by predators with a certain striking speed. Nacre-like architectures have been demonstrated to dissipate abundant energy by tablets sliding at static or specific low-speed loads, but whether they’re still impact-resistant templates in a wide range of impact velocities remains unclear. Here, we find an anomalous phenomenon that nacre-like structures show superior energy-dissipation ability only in a narrow range of low impact velocities, while they exhibit lower impact resistance than laminated structures when impact velocity exceeds a critical value. This is because the tablets sliding in nacre-like structure occurs earlier and wider at low impact velocities, while it becomes localized at excessive impact velocities. Such anomalous phenomenon remains under different structural sizes and boundary conditions. It further inspires us to propose a hybrid architecture design strategy that achieves optimal impact resistance in a wide range of impact velocities.