ß Phase Optimization of Solvent Cast PVDF as a Function of the Processing Method and Additive Content.

A semicrystalline polymer with high piezo-, pyro-, and ferroelectric characteristics, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) offers exciting possibilities in various applications. The semicrystalline structure of PVDF is composed of several phases including α, ß, θ, γ, and ε phases. ß phase polymorphs of PVDF exhibit the highest piezoelectric properties, which can be enhanced through different processing methods. This study aims to investigate the ß phase transformation of PVDF through different processes/treatment methods and the processing of a PVDF polymer composite containing 0.2 wt % multiwalled carbon nanotubes and/or 20 wt % modified/unmodified barium titanate. The effects of annealing, uniaxial stretching, rolling, atmospheric plasma treatment, UV treatment, and their combinations were investigated. The transformation of α to ß phase was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer and differential scanning calorimeter. The most remarkable ß phase transformation of PVDF films was obtained by stretching following solvent casting and hot pressing. It was observed that various process combinations, as well as the incorporation of additives, influence the ß phase content of PVDF. Alongside studying ß phase content of PVDF, the investigation extends to analyzing the tan δ and elastic and loss modulus values of rolled PVDF polymer composite films.

A cell-centered finite volume formulation of geometrically exact Simo-Reissner beams with arbitrary initial curvatures.

This article presents a novel total Lagrangian cell-centered finite volume formulation of geometrically exact beams with arbitrary initial curvatures undergoing large displacements and finite rotations. The choice of rotation parameterization, the mathematical formulation of the beam kinematics, conjugate strain measures, and the linearization of the strong form of governing equations are described. The finite volume based discretization of the computational domain and the governing equations for each computational volume are presented. The discretized integral form of the equilibrium equations is solved using a block-coupled Newton-Raphson solution procedure. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is presented by comparing the simulated numerical results with classic benchmark test cases available in the literature. The objectivity of strain measures for the current formulation and mesh convergence studies for both initially straight and curved beam configurations are also discussed.

A patient-specific numerical model of the ankle joint for the analysis of contact pressure distribution.

A patient-specific numerical model of the ankle joint has been developed using open-source software with realistic material properties that mimics the physiological movement of the foot during the stance phase of the gait cycle. The patient-specific ankle geometry has been segmented as a castellated surface using 3DSlicer from the computed tomography image scans of a subject with no congenital or acquired pathology; subsequently, the bones are smoothed, and cartilage is included as a uniform thickness extruded layer. A high-resolution Cartesian mesh has been generated using cfMesh. The material properties are assigned in the model based on the CT image Hounsfield intensities and compared to a sandwich-based material model. Gait data of the same subject was obtained and used to relatively position the tibia, talus, and calcaneus bones in the model. The stance phase of the gait cycle is simulated using a cell-centred finite-volume method implemented in open-source software OpenFOAM. The predicted peak contact pressures occur in the range of 4.85-5.53 MPa with average pressures in the range of 1.56-1.95 MPa, and the contact area ranges between 429 and 707.8 mm2 for the entire stance phase with the mid-stance phase predicting the maximum contact area. These predictions are in agreement with results from the literature. The effect of arthritis on the contact characteristics of the ankle joint has also been examined. A concentrated increase in pressure was predicted that could be manifested as pain, thereby leading to reduced motion in the ankle. The model, with continued development, has the capability to understand the effect of joint degradation and furthermore, could help provide a tool to predict the efficiency of therapeutic surgical procedures as well as guide the development of next generation ankle prostheses. The work would be made available in the University College Dublin depository (https://github.com/laxmimurali/anklejoint) as well as research gate once the article has been published.

Interfacial separation of a mature biofilm from a glass surface - A combined experimental and cohesive zone modelling approach.

A good understanding of the mechanical stability of biofilms is essential for biofouling management, particularly when mechanical forces are used. Previous biofilm studies lack a damage-based theoretical model to describe the biofilm separation from a surface. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the interfacial separation of a mature biofilm from a rigid glass substrate using a combined experimental and numerical modelling approach. In the current work, the biofilm-glass interfacial separation process was investigated under tensile and shear stresses at the macroscale level, known as modes I and II failure mechanisms respectively. The numerical simulations were performed using a Finite Volume (FV)-based simulation package (OpenFOAM®) to predict the separation initiation using the cohesive zone model (CZM). Atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based retraction curve was used to obtain the separation properties between the biofilm and glass colloid at microscale level, where the CZM parameters were estimated using the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) model. In this study CZM is introduced as a reliable method for the investigation of interfacial separation between a biofilm and rigid substrate, in which a high local stress at the interface edge acts as an ultimate stress at the crack tip.This study demonstrated that the total interfacial failure energy measured at the macroscale, was significantly higher than the pure interfacial separation energy obtained by AFM at the microscale, indicating a highly ductile deformation behaviour within the bulk biofilm matrix. The results of this study can significantly contribute to the understanding of biofilm detachments.

Mechanical properties of a mature biofilm from a wastewater system: from microscale to macroscale level.

A fundamental understanding of biofilm mechanical stability is critical in order to describe detachment and develop biofouling control strategies. It is thus important to characterise the elastic deformation and flow behaviour of the biofilm under different modes of applied force. In this study, the mechanical properties of a mature wastewater biofilm were investigated with methods including macroscale compression and microscale indentation using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The mature biofilm was found to be mechanically isotropic at the macroscale level as its mechanical properties did not depend on the scales and modes of loading. However, the biofilm showed a tendency for mechanical inhomogeneity at the microscale level as indentation progressed deeper into the matrix. Moreover, it was observed that the adhesion force had a significant influence on the elastic properties of the biofilm at the surface, subjected to microscale tensile loading. These results are expected to inform a damage-based model for biofilm detachment.

Mechanical characterisation of polyurethane elastomer for biomedical applications.

Mechanical testing and modelling of a material for biomedical applications have to be based on conditions representative of the application of interest. In this work, an ether-based polyurethane elastomer is used to build mock arteries. The aim is to study the behaviour of arteries under pulsatile loading conditions and how that behaviour changes with the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Polyurethane elastomers are widely used as biomaterials, e.g. in tube form for bypasses and catheters. However, their mechanical behaviour has not been extensively characterised. This work establishes the variations in the behaviour of polyurethane elastomer with temperature, humidity and strain rate and also reports planar and equibiaxial tension, relaxation, creep and cyclic test results, providing a comprehensive characterisation of the material. Test results are used to determine the properties of the polyurethane elastomer and in the selection of a representative material model for future simulations of arterial behaviour and the development of atherosclerosis. The results show that the behaviour of the elastomer is significantly dependent on both humidity and temperature, with Young's modulus of 7.4 MPa, 5.3 MPa and 4.7 MPa under dry-room temperature, wet-room temperature and wet at 37 ( composite function)C conditions, respectively. The elastomer also exhibits rate-dependent viscoelastic behaviour. Yeoh's hyperelastic material model provided the best fit to the entire range of experimental data. The Neo-Hookean model provides a good fit at small strain but significantly diverges at large strains. Nevertheless, in applications where deformations are relatively small, i.e. below 15%, the Neo-Hookean model can be used.