The basic definitions and a history of the development of biomimetics as a discipline that considers nature-inspired design are presented in this paper. The discussion and the results of the application of principles of nature-inspired design in machine elements design are given. The fact that transition zones that Nature chose and designed on trees in many cases survived for more than a hundred years, resisting on the various and variable external loads and other external conditions, is considered. Presented case study used the nature-inspired transition shapes in the research of innovative design and geometric optimization of transition zones of high-loaded shafts. The comparative Finite Element Analysis is performed for a particular transition zone with traditional engineering design, as well as with nature-inspired design. The conclusions about the increase of load capacity that is obtained with innovative biomimetics design are discussed.
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