As one of the oldest creatures on the earth, the tortoises have formed a nearly perfect shell structure after millions of years of evolution In this paper, Chinese tortoise shell is studied. Firstly, the scanning model of the tortoise shell is established by means of computer tomography （CT） scanning technology and MIMICS software. Secondly, the solid model of three-dimensional structure of the tortoise shell is constructed by using geomagic studio reverse engineering software. Afterwards, the compression numerical simulation of the tortoise shell structure under low strain rate is conducted with the help of finite element software LS-DYNA. Finally, load-bearing characteristics of the tortoise shell structure and dome-shaped structure are compared and analyzed. The results show that compared withthe dome-shaped structure with the same volume, tortoise shell structure has a higher structural rigidity and can withstand higher pressure. Therefore, tortoise shell structure provide some reference to the design of armored vehicles, sheltersand other types of thin shell structures.
