Mechanical performance of carbon-fibre braided composite tubes in tension and compression

This article examines the effect of braid angle on the mechanical performance of carbon-epoxy braided tubes in tension and compression. Vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding is used to produce a variety of tubes with several combinations of 15◦and 20◦ braid angles. As uniaxial tensile testing of cylindrical tubes is not trivial, two tensile testing fixture designs are explored. It is found that a combination of mechanical and adhesive gripping produces repeatable fractures between the grips, with no slipping. Tubes with lower braid angles exhibit higher strengths both in tension and compression, as well as absorbing greater amounts of energy in compression.

Prediction of fracture limits of IN625 alloy by coupling ductile damage models and anisotropic yielding functions with the classical Marciniak and Kuczyński model

The fracture forming limit diagram (FFLD) is gaining special attention in high strength materials where the necking tendency rarely occurs during sheet metal forming processes. In the present work, the classical Marciniak and Kuczyński (MK) model has been modified by coupling it with different ductile damage models (Cockcroft and Latham, Brozzo, Oyane, Ko, Oh, Rice and Tracey, McClintock and Clift) and anisotropic yielding functions (Hill 1948 and Barlat 1989) to predict the fracture limits of Inconel 625 (IN625) alloy at different temperatures. Firstly, uniaxial tensile testing has been conducted for the determination of important mechanical properties. Consequently, stretch forming experiments have been performed to analyze the forming limits of a material. It has been found that the safe and fracture forming limits of the material increased by approximately 17.26% and 22.22%, respectively, on increasing the temperature from 300 to 673 K. From the comparative analysis of different combinations of ductile damage models and yielding functions, the Cockcroft and Latham (C-L) damage model in combination with the Barlat 1989 yielding function helped in best predicting the theoretical FFLD as it displayed the least average root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.033. The other ductile damage models used for predicting the theoretical fracture limits displayed large error; hence, they should not be considered while designing a critical component in the manufacturing industry using IN625 alloy.

The mechanical and morphological properties of systemic and pulmonary arteries differ in the earth boa, a snake without ventricular pressure separation

The walls of the mammalian aorta and pulmonary artery are characterized by diverging morphologies and mechanical properties, which has been correlated with high systemic and low pulmonary blood pressures, as a result of intraventricular pressure separation in the mammalian ventricle. However, the relation between intraventricular pressure separation and diverging aortic and pulmonary artery wall morphologies and mechanical characteristics is not understood. The snake cardiovascular system poses a unique model for the study of this question, since representatives both with and without intraventricular pressure separation exist. In this study we perform uniaxial tensile testing on vessel samples taken from the aortas and pulmonary arteries of the earth boa, Acrantophis madagascariensis, a species without intraventricular pressure separation. We then compare these morphological and mechanical characteristics with samples from the ball python, Python regius, and the yellow anaconda, Eunectes notaeus, species with and without intraventricular pressure separation, respectively. Strikingly, we find that although the aortas and pulmonary arteries of A. madagascariensis respond similarly to the same intramural blood pressures, they diverge strongly in morphology, and that this is a common attribute among species without intraventricular pressure separation in this study. In contrast, P. regius aortas and pulmonary arteries diverge both morphologically and in terms of their mechanical properties. Altogether our data indicate that intraventricular pressure separation does not explain diverging aortic and pulmonary artery morphologies. Following the Law of Laplace, we propose that thin pulmonary arteries represent a mechanism to protect the fragile pulmonary vascular bed by reducing the blood volume that passes through, to which genetic factors may contribute more strongly than physiological parameters.

Scaffolds with Magnetic Nanoparticles for Tissue Stimulation

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been used in several medical applications, including targeted hyperthermia, resonance tomography, diagnostic sensors, and localized drug delivery. Further applications of magnetic field manipulation through MNPs in tissue engineering have been described. The current study aims to develop tissue-engineered polymeric scaffolds with incorporated MNPs for applications that require stimulation of the tissues such as nerves, muscles, or heart. Electrospun scaffolds were obtained using 14%w/v polycaprolactone (PCL) in 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE) at concentrations of 5% & 7.5%w/v of dispersed MNPs (iron oxide, Fe3O4, or cobalt iron oxide, CoFe2O4). Scaffolds were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, uniaxial tensile testing, and cell seeding for biocompatibility. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (bmMSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds. Biocompatibility was assessed by metabolic activity with Resazurin reduction assay on day 1, 3, 7, 10. Cell-cell and cell-scaffold interactions were analyzed by SEM. Electrospun scaffolds containing MNPs showed a decrease in fiber diameter as compared to scaffolds of pure PCL. The maximum force increases with the inclusion of MNPs, with higher values revealed for iron oxide. The metabolic activity decreased with MNPs, especially for cobalt iron oxide at a higher concentration. On the other hand, the cells developed good cell-scaffold and cell-cell interactions, making the proposed scaffolds good prospects for potential use in tissue stimulation.

Development of a Clamping Device for Tensile Testing of Intracranial Flow Diverter Stents

The main danger of a brain aneurysm (a sack-like bulge on the vessel wall) is that in the event of a rupture a severe hemorrhage can occur which may cause death. However, if doctors have tools at their disposal, such as numerical models and simulations for analyzing patient-specific blood vessels, they could use them to decide if a particular treatment is necessary and if so, when. For such models, the different mechanical characteristics of the flow control devices are the input data. Several of these mechanical properties of the devices, such as modulus of elasticity and tensile strength, are determined by tensile testing. In the course of our research, we have developed a clamping device suitable for uniaxial tensile testing of flow diverter stents.

Effect of Processing Techniques on the Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of High-Density Polyethylene

The versatility of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) makes it one of the most used polymers for vast applications ranging from food packaging to human implants. However, there still is confusion regarding the proper selection of processing techniques to produce HDPE specimens for high-end applications. Herein, we compare the processing of HDPE by two relevant techniques: compression and injection molding. The fabricated samples were studied using uniaxial tensile testing to determine their mechanical performance. Furthermore, the microstructure of samples was analyzed using different characterization techniques. Compression-molded specimens recorded a higher degree of crystallinity (DC) using two different characterization techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). With this information, critical processing factors were determined, and a general structure–property relationship was established. It was demonstrated that having a higher DC resulted in higher yield strength and Young’s modulus. Furthermore, premature failure was observed in the injection-molded specimens, resulting in lower mechanical performance. This premature failure was caused due to flow marks observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Therefore, it is concluded that compression molding produces superior samples compared to injection molding.

Effects of Chemical and Radiation Sterilisation on the Biological and Biomechanical Properties of Decellularised Porcine Peripheral Nerves

There is a clinical need for novel graft materials for the repair of peripheral nerve defects. A decellularisation process has been developed for porcine peripheral nerves, yielding a material with potentially significant advantages over other devices currently being used clinically (such as autografts and nerve guidance conduits). Grafts derived from xenogeneic tissues should undergo sterilisation prior to clinical use. It has been reported that sterilisation methods may adversely affect the properties of decellularised tissues, and therefore potentially negatively impact on the ability to promote tissue regeneration. In this study, decellularised nerves were produced and sterilised by treatment with 0.1% (v/v) PAA, gamma radiation (25–28 kGy) or E Beam (33–37 kGy). The effect of sterilisation on the decellularised nerves was determined by cytotoxicity testing, histological staining, hydroxyproline assays, uniaxial tensile testing, antibody labelling for collagen type IV, laminin and fibronectin in the basal lamina, and differential scanning calorimetry. This study concluded that decellularised nerves retained biocompatibility following sterilisation. However, sterilisation affected the mechanical properties (PAA, gamma radiation), endoneurial structure and basement membrane composition (PAA) of decellularised nerves. No such alterations were observed following E Beam treatment, suggesting that this method may be preferable for the sterilisation of decellularised porcine peripheral nerves.

Microstructure/Mechanical Characterization of Plasma Nitrided Fine-Grain Austenitic Stainless Steels in Low Temperature

Fine-grained austenitic stainless steels (FGSS) were plasma nitrided below 700 K to describe their microstructure evolution during the nitrogen supersaturation process and to investigate the post-stressing effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of nitrided FGSS. Normal- and fine-grained AISI304 plates were nitrided at 623 K and 673 K to investigate the grain size effect on the nitrogen supersaturation process as well as the microstructure evolution during the nitriding process. Fine-grained AISI316 (FGSS316) wires were nitrided at 623 K to demonstrate that their outer surfaces were uniformly nitrided to have the same two-phase, refined microstructure with high nitrogen solute content. This nitrided FGSS316 wire had a core structure where the original FGSS316 core matrix was bound by the nitrided FGSS316 layer. The nitrided wire had higher stiffness, ultimate strength, and elongation in the uniaxial tensile testing than its un-nitrided wires. The core microstructure was refined and homogenized by this applied loading together with an increase of nitrided layer hardness.

Tempering and Austempering of Double Soaked Medium Manganese Steels

The addition of a tempering or austempering step to the double soaking of a 0.14C–7.17Mn (wt pct) steel was investigated in the present contribution. The double soaking heat treatment is a two-step intercritical annealing heat treatment, which generates microstructures of athermal martensite, retained austenite and ferrite when applied to medium manganese steels. Microstructures following double soaking and (aus)tempering contained a combination of retained austenite, athermal or tempered martensite, and blocky or bainitic ferrite. X-ray diffraction, dilatometry and transmission Kikuchi diffraction were utilized to investigate microstructural changes which occurred during tempering or austempering. The resulting mechanical properties were measured using uniaxial tensile testing. The double soaking plus tempering heat treatment was shown to generate an ultimate tensile strength of 1,340 MPa in combination with 28 pct total elongation while the double soaking plus austempering heat treatment resulted in an ultimate tensile strength of 1,675 MPa and total elongation of 22 pct. Overall, both novel heat treatments produced a combination of strength and ductility desired for the third generation of advanced high strength steels.

Effect of Peak Current Density on Tensile Properties of AZ31B Magnesium Alloy

An investigation into the effects, including the athermal effect, of a pulsed current on AZ31B magnesium alloy was carried out. Different peak current densities were applied at the same temperature under uniaxial tensile testing. The results indicate that the stress reduction caused by the increasing peak current density is independent of temperature. The strain hardening coefficient also shows a similar trend. The fracture strain shows the optimum value due to the current crowding effect.