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Avian flight feathers have developed, through evolution, an intricate architecture with multi-functional structures that are essential for flight. These lightweight and resilient appendages motivate the invention of bioinspired designs. Here we fabricate various structures inspired by significant concepts identified in the feather vane and shaft. Bioinspired prototypes based on the feather vane's unique adhesive mechanism and directional permeability are explored, and feather-shaft inspired designs motivated by the highly ordered hierarchical fiber-matrix structure in the feather are fabricated. The exquisite architecture of the rachis, consisting of a hollow tube filled with foam, is simulated in a bioinspired design that demonstrates the synergy of the two components in enhancing the flexural strength. These structures provide an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms operating in feathers and suggest highly efficient solutions which can contribute to creating innovative materials inspired by the feather., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a current technology undergoing rapid development that is utilized in a wide variety of applications. In the field of biological and bioinspired materials, additive manufacturing is being used to generate intricate prototypes to expand our understanding of the fundamental structure-property relationships that govern nature's spectacular mechanical performance. Herein, recent advances in the use of AM for improving the understanding of the structure-property relationship in biological materials and for the production of bioinspired materials are reviewed. There are four essential components to this work: a) extracting defining characteristics of biological designs, b) designing 3D-printed prototypes, c) performing mechanical testing on 3D-printed prototypes to understand fundamental mechanisms at hand, and d) optimizing design for tailorable performance. It is intended to highlight how the various types of additive manufacturing methods are utilized, to unravel novel discoveries in the field of biological materials. Since AM processing techniques have surpassed antiquated limitations, especially with respect to spatial scales, there has been a surge in their demand as an integral tool for research. In conclusion, current challenges and the technical perspective for further development of bioinspired materials using AM are discussed., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)