New method to estimate the cycling frontal area.

The purpose of this study was to test the validity and reliability of a new method to estimate the projected frontal area of the body during cycling. To illustrate the use of this method in another cycling speciality (i.e. mountain bike), the NM data were coupled with a powermeter measurement to determine the projected frontal area and the coefficient of drag in actual conditions. Nine male cyclists had their frontal area determined from digital photographic images in a laboratory while seated on their bicycles in two positions:Upright Position (UP) and Traditional Aerodynamic Position (TAP). For each position, the projected frontal area for the body of the cyclist as well as the cyclist and his bicycle were measured using a new method with computer aided-design software, the method of weighing photographs and the digitizing method. The results showed that no significant difference existed between the new method and the method of weighing photographs in the measurement of the frontal area of the body of cyclists in UP (p=0.43) and TAP (p=0.14), or between the new method and the digitizing method in measurement of the frontal area for the cyclist and his bicycle in UP (p=0.12) and TAP (p=0.31). The coefficients of variation of the new method and the method of weighing photographs were 0.1% and 1.26%, respectively. In conclusion, the new method was valid and reliable in estimating the frontal area compared with the method of weighing photographs and the digitizing method.

Skin-friction drag analysis from the forced convection modeling in simplified underwater swimming.

This study deals with skin-friction drag analysis in underwater swimming. Although lower than profile drag, skin-friction drag remains significant and is the second and only other contribution to total drag in the case of underwater swimming. The question arises whether varying the thermal gradient between the underwater swimmer and the pool water may modify the surface shear stress distribution and the resulting skin-friction drag acting on a swimmer's body. As far as the authors are aware, such a question has not previously been addressed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of this thermal gradient by using the integral formalism applied to the forced convection theory. From a simplified model in a range of pool temperatures (20-30 degrees C) it was demonstrated that, whatever the swimming speeds, a 5.3% reduction in the skin-friction drag would occur with increasing average boundary-layer temperature provided that the flow remained laminar. However, as the majority of the flow is actually turbulent, a turbulent flow analysis leads to the major conclusion that friction drag is a function of underwater speed, leading to a possible 1.5% reduction for fast swimming speeds above 1m/s. Furthermore, simple correlations between the surface shear stress and resulting skin-friction drag are derived in terms of the boundary-layer temperature, which may be readily used in underwater swimming situations.

Influence of fluorapatite minor additions on behavior of hydroxyapatite ceramics.

Fluorinated hydroxyapatite is known to be less soluble by body fluids, resulting in enhanced resistance to biodegradation in vivo conditions, as compared to the pure hydroxyapatite ceramics. The present work was aimed at the investigation of the effect of minor additions of ultrafine fluorapatite (up to 10 wt%) on the sintering behavior and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite ceramics. In vitro testing for the osteoblast-like cells viability and proliferation was performed with the samples of varying fluorapatite content. It was found that the fluorapatite addition hinders the sintering shrinkage and lowers the strength, but does not generally affect negatively the viability of the cells.

Thermal residual stresses near the interface between plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite coating and titanium substrate: finite element analysis and synchrotron radiation measurements.

Plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings on titanium alloy are often used in prosthetic implants. The metallic substrate gives the implant good mechanical strength which is combined with good biocompatibility and osteointegration of the ceramic coating. However, the interface between the HA coating and titanium alloy substrate is an area of critical weakness when compared with the interlamellar cohesive strength of the HA coating structure. Knowledge of the stresses in materials near the interface seems to be an important step in understanding why failure occurs. Synchrotron radiation, using Beamline BM16 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Grenoble, France), has been used to determine local stresses near the interface, down to 10 microm in resolution, between a plasma-sprayed HA coating and a titanium alloy substrate. This experimental determination of residual stresses is compared with the results found by a finite element analysis modeling the thermal effects of the plasma-spraying process. Residual stresses have been found in deposited ceramic near the interface due to a thermal properties mismatch of the materials. If the plane stress state is assumed, meaning the perpendicular component of residual stress is ignored (sigma(z) = 0), then the synchrotron residual stress measurements should be interpreted as mainly compressive in the ceramic coating. This is in contradiction with the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch; therefore, the simplified plane stresses assumption seems to be inappropriate for the deposited morphology characterized by pores and a network of microcracks. The detailed finite element analysis model, taking into account the real morphology of the coating and the real three-dimensional stress field distribution, allowed the estimation of sigma(z), leading to a more accurate interpretation of synchrotron measurements, which is validated by the experimental results.

Stress influence on interface in plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings on titanium alloy.

During clinical use of hydroxyapatite-coated implants, mechanical stresses are added to pre-existing residual stresses. The magnitude of these stresses affects the coating's performance. In this work we studied, by neutron diffraction and conventional X-ray diffraction methods, the macrostresses induced by a plasma-spraying process in the coating and at the interface. Neutron diffraction is one of the most suitable techniques for studying the strain distribution in a bulk material. X-ray diffraction was used to determine residual stress in the hydroxyapatite coating. Using a neutron diffraction method at the nearest point to the interface, we saw no real difference between the stress observed on coated and that on non-coated samples. With the X-ray diffraction method, it appeared that the stress level was compressive on every sample. The major advantage of the neutron diffraction method is that measurements can be made on a thick coating in a nondestructive way. The disadvantage is the large-gauge volume that we had to use because of the relatively low intensity of the neutron beam. Polishing is necessary for measurements inside the material when using the X-ray method. This destructive method may alter the stress field of the deposit.

Phase-contrast imaging of thin biomaterials.

The necessity of information about the inner microscopical features of low absorbing materials is one of the most important goals in the structural research field. So far, non destructive analysis have been performed using contact radiography giving the scope for great advances in the production and application of new materials. However, the nature of interaction, namely X-ray absorption, limited the observations only to materials having sufficient heavy elements content. The adoption of a different X-ray interaction with matter which involves refractive properties of materials is at the basis of phase-contrast imaging. The novel method allows the use of high X-ray energies, for a deeper penetration and a lower released dose, without losing any information on the nature of the sample. A demonstration study, performed at the third generation European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)-Grenoble, to show the potential of the new technique applied to biomaterials characterization is presented here. The test samples are a commercial matrix barrier (GUIDOR) intended to aid the healing process after periodontal surgery and a hydroxyapatite thin slab originally deposited by plasma spray technique on a TA6V alloy substrate. Phase-contrast images showed significant advantages revealing features that have negligible absorption contrast. The technique can be successfully used for the characterization of biomaterials.

X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of crystallinity in hydroxyapatite coatings.

To standardize industrial implant production and make comparisons between different experimental results, we have to be able to quantify the crystallinity of hydroxyapatite. Methods of measuring crystallinity ratio were developed for various HA samples before and after plasma spraying. The first series of methods uses X-ray diffraction. The advantage of these methods is that X-ray diffraction equipment is used widely in science and industry. In the second series, a neutron diffraction method is developed and the results recorded are similar to those obtained by the modified X-ray diffraction methods. The advantage of neutron diffraction is the ability to obtain measurements deep inside a component. It is a nondestructive method, owing to the very low absorption of neutrons in most materials.