Cytotoxicity and Ion Release of Functionally Graded Al2O3- Ti Orthopedic Biomaterial

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of Al2O3-Ti functionally graded material (FGM) successfully fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technology, and to compare with pure Ti and alumina. Pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells were used to examine cell viability, proliferation and differentiation using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) cytotoxicity detection kit, MTT assay and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) colorimetric test at different time points. Furthermore, ion release from the materials into the culture medium was assessed. The results showed cell viability over 80% for FGM and alumina which dismissed any cytotoxicity risk due to materials or manufacturing. The results of MTT tests identified superiority of FGM than Ti and alumina, particularly in late proliferation. Nevertheless, in cell differentiation, all materials performed similarly with no statistical differences. Furthermore, it was indicated that Ti had no ion release, while alumina had small amount of Al ion dissolution. FGM, however, had more ions detachment, particularly Al ions.

Flexural Behavior of Six Species of Italian Bamboo

The good mechanical performance of bamboo, coupled with its sustainability, has boosted the idea to use it as a structural material. In some areas of the world it is regularly used in constructions but there are still countries in which there is a lack of knowledge of the mechanical properties of the locally-grown bamboo, which limits the spread of this material. Bamboo is optimized to resist to flexural actions with its peculiar micro structure along the thickness in which the amount of fibers intensifies towards the outer layer and the inner part is composed mostly of parenchyma. The flexural strength depends on the amount of fibers, whereas the flexural ductility is correlated to the parenchyma content. This study focuses on the flexural strength and ductility of six different species of untreated bamboo grown in Italy. A four-point bending test was carried out on bamboo strips in two different loading configurations relating to its microstructure. Deformation data are acquired from two strain gauges in the upper and lower part of the bamboo beam. Difference in shape and size of Italian bamboo species compared to the ones traditionally used results in added complexity when performing the tests. Such difficulties and the found solutions are also described in this work. The main goal is to reveal the flexural behavior of Italian bamboo as a functionally graded material and to expand the knowledge of European bamboo species toward its use as a structural material not only as culm but also as laminated material.

Feasibility study: Resin-based functionally graded material incorporated with carbonized waste rice husk

Feasibility study was conducted in exploring the fabrication and characterization of resin-based functionally graded material (FGM) incorporated with carbonized waste rice husk. The waste rice husks were converted into carbon materials through heat treatment under the presence of inert gas at 500°C for 2 hours. Then, they were incorporated into resin to form FGM by centrifugal method to achieve desired gradation. Sample B3 with 5 wt.% of carbonized rice husk (CRH) incorporated into polyester resin (including hardener and ethanol) was centrifugated at 4000 rpm for 30 minutes to form FGM. The fabricated samples were cut into three parts, namely upper, middle, and bottom layer to further characterize the properties at various gradation levels. The density of sample B3 increased gradually, 4.10%, 6.54%, and 6.93% when compared to bulk resin, from upper to bottom layer, respectively. The hardness of sample B3 increased gradually, 27.38%, 42.57%, and 47.08% in contrast to bulk resin, from upper to bottom layer, respectively. FGM proposed in this study can be further manipulated based on the centrifugal force and time, ratio of solvents/hardener, and weight percentage of CRH that indicate they can be exploited for specific of numerous appropriate applications.

Computational contact mechanics for a medium consisting of functionally graded material coating and orthotropic substrate

This paper presents a semi-analytical method to investigate the frictionless contact mechanics between a functionally graded material (FGM) coating and an orthotropic substrate when the system is indented by a rigid flat punch. From the bottom, the orthotropic substrate is completely bonded to the rigid foundation. The body force of the orthotropic substrate is ignored in the solution, while the body force of the FGM coating is considered. An exponential function is used to define the smooth variation of the shear modulus and density of the FGM coating, and the variation of Poisson’s ratio is assumed to be negligible. The partial differential equation system for the FGM coating and the orthotropic substrate is solved analytically through Fourier transformations. After applying boundary and interface continuity conditions to the mixed boundary value problem, the contact problem is reduced to a singular integral equation. The Gauss–Chebyshev integration method is then used to convert the singular integral equation into a system of linear equations, which are solved using an appropriate iterative algorithm to calculate the contact stress under the rigid flat punch. The parametric analyses presented here demonstrate the effects of normalized punch length, material inhomogeneity, dimensionless press force, and orthotropic material type on contact stresses at interfaces, critical load factor, and initial separation distance between FGM coating and orthotropic substrate. The developed solution procedures are verified through the comparisons made to the results available in the literature. The solution methodology and numerical results presented in this paper can provide some useful guidelines for improving the design of multibody indentation systems using FGMs and anisotropic materials.

Wear of Functionally Graded Coatings under Frictional Heating Conditions

Multilayered and functionally graded coatings are extensively used for protection against wear of the working surfaces of mechanisms and machines subjected to sliding contact. The paper considers the problem of wear of a strip made of a functionally graded material, taking into account the heating of the sliding contact from friction. Wear is modeled by a moving strip along the surface of a hard abrasive in the form of a half-plane. With the help of the integral Laplace transform with respect to time, the solutions are constructed as convolutions from the law of the introduction of an abrasive into the strip and the original in the form of a contour integral of the inverse Laplace transform. The study of the integrands of contour quadratures in the complex plane allowed determination of the regions of stable solutions to the problem. Unstable solutions of the problem lead to the concept of thermoelastic instability of the contact with friction and formed regions of unstable solutions. The solutions obtained made it possible to determine a formula for the coefficient of functionally graded inhomogeneity of the coating material and to study its effect on the occurrence of thermoelastic instability of the contact taking friction into account, as well as on its main characteristics: temperature, displacement, stress and wear of the functionally graded material of the coating. The effects of the abrasive speed, contact stresses and temperature on wear of the coating with the functionally graded inhomogeneity of the material by the depth were investigated.

Thermal and Mechanical Analyses of Dry Clutch Disk made of Functionally Graded Material.

This paper presents an innovative utility of Functionally Graded Aluminum Matrix Composite (FGAMC) with Silicon Carbide as a friction material in clutches since having an acceptable friction coefficient and high wear resistance. FGAMC’s properties were calculated using rule-of-mixture and power law, represented by layered geometry. FGAMC’s behavior is examined considering statics, dynamics, thermal and wear. Analyses were done using Finite Element method, by ANSYS. Results are discussed by comparing FGAMC’s clutch to Aluminum matrix composite with 20% of Silicon Carbide clutch and E-glass clutch. Clutches design based on the common size and working conditions of clutches in mid-size and heavy automobiles. Most analyses revels FGAMC’s clutch has higher strain than AMC’s clutch with less deformation in thickness direction and less stresses. FGAMC’s clutch has higher mass leading to lower first natural frequency but with low resulted deformations. Transient analyses showed 10 times fewer maximum deformations for FGAMC’s clutch than AMC and E-glass with lower strains and higher stress but in much less area for FGAMC’s clutch. Wear which indicates working life of a clutch, have been studied using Archard Wear Equation in ANSYS, FGAMC’s clutch has 10 times lower wear with much less affected area compared to AMC and E-glass. Thermal analysis results of the three clutches are close to each other with 0.07 watts between FGAMC’s and AMC’s clutches, and 0.03 watts between FGAMC’s and E-Glass’s clutches.