scholarly journals Infarcted Left Ventricles Have Stiffer Material Properties and Lower Stiffness Variation: Three-Dimensional Echo-Based Modeling to Quantify In Vivo Ventricle Material Properties

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Longling Fan ◽  
Jing Yao ◽  
Chun Yang ◽  
Dalin Tang ◽  
Di Xu

Methods to quantify ventricle material properties noninvasively using in vivo data are of great important in clinical applications. An ultrasound echo-based computational modeling approach was proposed to quantify left ventricle (LV) material properties, curvature, and stress/strain conditions and find differences between normal LV and LV with infarct. Echo image data were acquired from five patients with myocardial infarction (I-Group) and five healthy volunteers as control (H-Group). Finite element models were constructed to obtain ventricle stress and strain conditions. Material stiffening and softening were used to model ventricle active contraction and relaxation. Systolic and diastolic material parameter values were obtained by adjusting the models to match echo volume data. Young's modulus (YM) value was obtained for each material stress–strain curve for easy comparison. LV wall thickness, circumferential and longitudinal curvatures (C- and L-curvature), material parameter values, and stress/strain values were recorded for analysis. Using the mean value of H-Group as the base value, at end-diastole, I-Group mean YM value for the fiber direction stress–strain curve was 54% stiffer than that of H-Group (136.24 kPa versus 88.68 kPa). At end-systole, the mean YM values from the two groups were similar (175.84 kPa versus 200.2 kPa). More interestingly, H-Group end-systole mean YM was 126% higher that its end-diastole value, while I-Group end-systole mean YM was only 29% higher that its end-diastole value. This indicated that H-Group had much greater systole–diastole material stiffness variations. At beginning-of-ejection (BE), LV ejection fraction (LVEF) showed positive correlation with C-curvature, stress, and strain, and negative correlation with LV volume, respectively. At beginning-of-filling (BF), LVEF showed positive correlation with C-curvature and strain, but negative correlation with stress and LV volume, respectively. Using averaged values of two groups at BE, I-Group stress, strain, and wall thickness were 32%, 29%, and 18% lower (thinner), respectively, compared to those of H-Group. L-curvature from I-Group was 61% higher than that from H-Group. Difference in C-curvature between the two groups was not statistically significant. Our results indicated that our modeling approach has the potential to determine in vivo ventricle material properties, which in turn could lead to methods to infer presence of infarct from LV contractibility and material stiffness variations. Quantitative differences in LV volume, curvatures, stress, strain, and wall thickness between the two groups were provided.

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haofei Liu ◽  
Gador Canton ◽  
Chun Yuan ◽  
Chun Yang ◽  
Kristen Billiar ◽  
...  

In vivo magnetic resonance image (MRI)-based computational models have been introduced to calculate atherosclerotic plaque stress and strain conditions for possible rupture predictions. However, patient-specific vessel material properties are lacking in those models, which affects the accuracy of their stress/strain predictions. A noninvasive approach of combining in vivo Cine MRI, multicontrast 3D MRI, and computational modeling was introduced to quantify patient-specific carotid artery material properties and the circumferential shrinkage rate between vessel in vivo and zero-pressure geometries. In vivo Cine and 3D multicontrast MRI carotid plaque data were acquired from 12 patients after informed consent. For each patient, one nearly-circular slice and an iterative procedure were used to quantify parameter values in the modified Mooney-Rivlin model for the vessel and the vessel circumferential shrinkage rate. A sample artery slice with and without a lipid core and three material parameter sets representing stiff, median, and soft materials from our patient data were used to demonstrate the effect of material stiffness and circumferential shrinkage process on stress/strain predictions. Parameter values of the Mooney-Rivlin models for the 12 patients were quantified. The effective Young’s modulus (YM, unit: kPa) values varied from 137 (soft), 431 (median), to 1435 (stiff), and corresponding circumferential shrinkages were 32%, 12.6%, and 6%, respectively. Using the sample slice without the lipid core, the maximum plaque stress values (unit: kPa) from the soft and median materials were 153.3 and 96.2, which are 67.7% and 5% higher than that (91.4) from the stiff material, while the maximum plaque strain values from the soft and median materials were 0.71 and 0.293, which are about 700% and 230% higher than that (0.089) from the stiff material, respectively. Without circumferential shrinkages, the maximum plaque stress values (unit: kPa) from the soft, median, and stiff models were inflated to 330.7, 159.2, and 103.6, which were 116%, 65%, and 13% higher than those from models with proper shrinkage. The effective Young’s modulus from the 12 human carotid arteries studied varied from 137 kPa to 1435 kPa. The vessel circumferential shrinkage to the zero-pressure condition varied from 6% to 32%. The inclusion of proper shrinkage in models based on in vivo geometry is necessary to avoid over-estimating the stresses and strains by up 100%. Material stiffness had a greater impact on strain (up to 700%) than on stress (up to 70%) predictions. Accurate patient-specific material properties and circumferential shrinkage could considerably improve the accuracy of in vivo MRI-based computational stress/strain predictions.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2738
Author(s):  
Roland Pawliczek ◽  
Tadeusz Lagoda

The literature in the area of material fatigue indicates that the fatigue properties may change with the number of cycles. Researchers recommend taking this into account in fatigue life calculation algorithms. The results of simulation research presented in this paper relate to an algorithm for estimating the fatigue life of specimens subjected to block loading with a nonzero mean value. The problem of block loads using a novel calculation model is presented in this paper. The model takes into account the change in stress–strain curve parameters caused by mean strain. Simulation tests were performed for generated triangular waveforms of strains, where load blocks with changed mean strain values were applied. During the analysis, the degree of fatigue damage was compared. The results of calculations obtained for standard values of stress–strain parameters (for symmetric loads) and those determined, taking into account changes in the curve parameters, are compared and presented in this paper. It is shown that by neglecting the effect of the mean strain value on the K′ and n′ parameters and by considering only the parameters of the cyclic deformation curve for εm = 0 (symmetric loads), the ratio of the total degree of fatigue damage varies from 10% for εa = 0.2% to 3.5% for εa = 0.6%. The largest differences in the calculation for ratios of the partial degrees of fatigue damage were observed in relation to the reference case for the sequence of block n3, where εm = 0.4%. The simulation results show that higher mean strains change the properties of the material, and in such cases, it is necessary to take into account the influence of the mean value on the material response under block loads.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyu Wang ◽  
Dalin Tang ◽  
Gador Canton ◽  
Jian Guo ◽  
Xiaoya Guo ◽  
...  

It is hypothesized that artery stiffness may be associated with plaque progression. However, in vivo vessel material stiffness follow-up data is lacking in the literature. In vivo 3D multi-contrast and Cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) carotid plaque data were acquired from 8 patients with follow-up (18 months) with written informed consent obtained. Cine MRI and 3D thin-layer models were used to determine parameter values of the Mooney-Rivlin models for the 81slices from 16 plaques (2 scans/patient) using our established iterative procedures. Effective Young’s Modulus (YM) values for stretch ratio [1.0,1.3] were calculated for each slice for analysis. Stress-stretch ratio curves from Mooney-Rivlin models for the 16 plaques and 81 slices are given in Fig. 1. Average YM value of the 81 slices was 411kPa. Slice YM values varied from 70 kPa (softest) to 1284 kPa (stiffest), a 1734% difference. Average slice YM values by vessel varied from 109 kPa (softest) to 922 kPa (stiffest), a 746% difference. Location-wise, the maximum slice YM variation rate within a vessel was 306% (139 kPa vs. 564 kPa). Average slice YM variation rate within a vessel for the 16 vessels was 134%. Average variation of YM values from baseline (T1) to follow up (T2) for all patients was 61.0%. The range of the variation of YM values was [-28.4%, 215%]. For progression study, YM increase (YMI=YM T2 -TM T1 ) showed negative correlation with plaque progression measured by wall thickness increase (WTI), (r= -0.6802, p=0.0634). YM T2 showed strong negative correlation with WTI (r= -0.7764, p=0.0235). Correlation between YM T1 and WTI was not significant (r= -0.4353, p= 0.2811). Conclusion In vivo carotid vessel material properties have large variations from patient to patient, along the vessel segment within a patient, and from baseline to follow up. Use of patient-specific, location specific and time-specific material properties could potentially improve the accuracy of model stress/strain calculations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1609-1618
Author(s):  
Long Lijuan ◽  
He Wentao ◽  
Li Juan ◽  
Xiang Yushu ◽  
Qin Shuhao ◽  
...  

In this work, the effects of inorganic phosphinate flame retardant of aluminum hypophosphite (AP) and organic phosphinate flame retardant of ethyl substituted phosphinates (AP-ethyl) on the thermal degradation, flame performance, and mechanical properties of polyamide 6 (PA6) were investigated. Scanning electron micrograph showed AP with the shape of bulk and the mean size of 8 μm while AP-ethyl with irregular shape and the mean size of 30 μm. Thermal analysis indicated that the thermal degradation behavior of flame-retardant PA6 was different from pure PA6. Moreover, the cone calorimeter test results revealed that peak heat release rate (PHRR) of PA6/AP (85/15) and PA6/AP-ethyl (85/15) decreased by 51% and 64%, respectively, compared with pure PA6. Furthermore, pure PA6 showed ductile stress–strain curve with the tensile strength of 54.8 MPa. However, PA6/AP and PA6/AP-ethyl displayed brittle stress–strain curve and their tensile strength decreased to 52.3 and 47.1 MPa, respectively. In addition, pure PA6 showed a glossy and tough fracture surface morphology. The rough fracture surface morphologies for PA6/AP and PA6/AP-ethyl were observed, and the interface of PA6/AP was more obscure than that of PA6/AP-ethyl. Consequently, the small particle size of AP had a more uniform dispersion in PA6 matrix.


Author(s):  
R. Miralbes ◽  
D. Ranz ◽  
D. Zouzias

AbstractExpanded polystyrene foams are a petroleum-origin material that is usually used in some applications such as motorcyclist helmets. Despite it notably mechanical properties, it low density and its capability to absorb energy during an impact, it is necessary to find a renewable-origin substitute material. Thus, it has been studied the use of a sawdust and mycelium composite material under quasi-static and dynamic efforts. Sawdust is a waste material that has very small grains that are totally disaggregated so it has very low material properties. The use of oyster mushroom mycelium generates an internal structure that joins grains and, consequently, the resultant material has notably high mechanical properties. Then it has been compared the resultant properties (stress-strain curve, absorbed energy, decelerations, etc.) with the different densities EPS ones and it has been concluded that this composite material, despite it high density, it could be a suitable substitute material and in some cases it has better properties.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Yuan Shen ◽  
Yung-Chuan Chiou ◽  
Chung-Ming Tan ◽  
Chia-Chin Wu ◽  
Wei-Jen Chen

In this study, the effect of wall thickness (15–25 mm) on the stress–strain response of hollow-cylinder rubber fenders were investigated by conducting monotonic compression tests. It was found that a progressive increase in lateral bending deformation was observed during monotonic compression. Simultaneously, the extent of the lateral deflection decreased notably with an increasing wall thickness. From the experimental results, the fact is accepted that buckling occurred in the tested fender due to the fact that the ratio of the height to the wall thickness was higher than four in all of the considered cases. Moreover, an s-shape profile appeared in the stress–strain curves, which became clearer as the wall thickness was reduced from 25 to 15 mm. To assess the performance of fenders objectively, an energy-effectiveness index, C E R , was introduced to quantify the energy absorption capacity of the fender. From the experimental observations, it was inferred that the contact area of the folded inner surface of the fender produced under compression generated an additional reaction force and affected the shape of the stress–strain curve since the measured load consisted of two reaction forces: one caused by the self-contact area, and the other resulted from the compression-bending deformation that occurred in the side wall of the fender. To examine this assertion, a finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted and confirmed the effect of the reaction force on the sensitivity of the s-shape characteristic of the stress–strain curve. Finally, a polynomial regression was conducted and the calculated results based on the fourth-degree stress polynomial function correlated very well with the measured stress–strain curves.


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