  Spider silk is a remarkable example of bio-material with superior mechanical
characteristics. Its multilevel structural organization of dragline and viscid
silk leads to unusual and tunable properties, extensively studied from a
quasi-static point of view. In this study, inspired by the Nephila spider orb
web architecture, we propose a novel design for mechanical metamaterials based
on its periodic repetition. We demonstrate that spider-web metamaterial
structure plays an important role in the dynamic response and wave attenuation
mechanisms. The capability of the resulting structure to inhibit elastic wave
propagation in sub-wavelength frequency ranges is assessed and parametric
studies are performed to derive optimal configurations and constituent
mechanical properties. The results show promise for the design of innovative
lightweight structures for tunable vibration damping and impact protection, or
the protection of large scale infrastructure such as suspended bridges.
