A. Bakkali¹, L. Azrar^1,2, N. Fakri¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.23, No.3, pp. 201-232, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2011.023.201

Abstract In this paper an N-phase Incremental Self Consistent model is developed for magnetoelectroelastic composites as well as the N-phase Mori-Tanaka and classical Self Consistent. Our aim here is to circumvent the limitation of the Self Consistent predictions for some coupling effective properties at certain inclusion volume fractions. The anomalies of the SC estimates are more drastic when the void inclusions are considered. The mathematical modeling is based on the heterogeneous inclusion problem of Eshelby which leads to an expression for the strain-electric-magnetic field related by integral equations. The effective N-phase magnetoelectroelastic moduli are expressed as More >

Hernández LF

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.79, pp. 109-115, 2010, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2010.79.109

Abstract The relationships between (1) leaf biomass and morphology (lamina area and petiole and lamina inclination), (2) petiole’s mechanical and structural properties, and (3) the vertical light gradient inside the crop’s canopy were studied in field grown sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants, maintained at optimum soil water and mineral levels. At flowering, incident photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) was measured at the top of the canopy and on individual leaves using a quantum sensor. The fraction of direct incident radiation which passed through the canopy reaching each individual leaf was then calculated. Individual petiole and lamina inclination angles (ia_Petiole… More >

Z Damian-Noriega¹, PA Lomeli-Mejia², SA Villanueva-Pruneda¹, R Pérez-Moreno¹, JPA Puerta-Huerta¹, E Montes-Estrada¹, GD Alvarez-Miranda¹

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.14, No.1, pp. 29-36, 2010, DOI:10.3970/icces.2010.014.029

Abstract The sizing of the component parts of a mechanical assembly must first assure its assembly and functionality and then the replacement (interchangeability) of used parts with new parts. For diametral fits (gaps and interferences) the ISO system of limits and fits is used, but for axial gaps the functional dimensioning method is applied to ensure maximum and minimum functional values. For each axial gap, the axial dimensions of the involved parts must be identified. Later, a minimal chain of dimensions is established, defined as the addition and subtraction of vectors parallel to the axis of More >

Dǎnuţ Receanu¹, Emil Budescu¹

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.14, No.1, pp. 23-28, 2010, DOI:10.3970/icces.2010.014.023

Abstract The paper presents a new method for solving with precision of the differential equations of mechanical systems with two, three or more degrees of freedom. Always, the mechanical systems have coupled unknown quantities of differential equations. The method uncouples the unknown quantities using a graphic program: MATLAB- simulink. More >

A.P.S. Selvadurai¹

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 57-64, 2010, DOI:10.3970/icces.2010.015.057

Abstract This paper examines the problem of the internal heating of a poroelastic halfspace by an embedded rigid disc inclusion. A computational approach is adopted for modelling the resulting coupled thermo-hydro mechanical processes associated with the heating by the disc inclusion. More >

Yu.A. Goritskiy¹, D.G. Tigetov¹

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 99-102, 2010, DOI:10.3970/icces.2010.014.099

Abstract It is well-known that process of friction depends immensely on the surface roughness. Also, surfaces change while in friction. Roughness change is influenced by many factors such as shape of asperities, physical characteristics of materials, load, sliding velocity, lubricant and others. It was shown experimentally that roughness reaches a steady form (known as ``equilibrium roughness'') while running-in process. It is ``equilibrium roughness'' that determines a stationary friction mode. More >

Guanbin Song^∗,†,‡, Qing Luo^*, Baiyao Xu^*, Yang Ju^†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 165-174, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.165

Abstract It has been demonstrated that mechanical stimulation plays a vital role in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. However, little is known about the effects of mechanical stress on tendon/ligament development from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here, using a custom-made cell-stretching device, we studied the effects of mechanical stretching on the cell morphology and mRNA expression of several key genes modulating tendon/ligament genesis. We demonstrate that bone-marrow-derived rat MSCs (rMSCs), when subjected to cyclic uniaxial stretching, express obvious detectable mRNAs for tenascin C and scleraxis, a unique maker of tendon/ligament formation, and significantly More >

Yequan Wang^*, Li Yang^*, Jin Zhang^*, Ruyue Xue^*, Zhenyu Tang^*, Wei Huang^†, Dianming Jiang^†, Xinyan Tang^*, Peter Chen^‡, KL Paul Sung^{∗,‡,§,¶}

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 105-114, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.105

Abstract The anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, cartilage and meniscus in human knee joint have poor healing ability. Accumulation of MMPs in the joint fluids due to knee injury has been considered as the main reason. Our previous experiments showed that synovium may be the major regulator of MMPs in joint cavity after injury. In this paper, we used human synoviocytes harvested from synovium to determine whether mechanical injury and inflammatory factors will induce MMP-2 production in synoviocytes. With zymography, we found that mechanical compression increased the MMP-2 production by 23% under 6% compressions, 61%… More >

Xituan Shang^*, Michael R. T. Yen^1,†, M. Waleed Gaber^‡

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 93-104, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.093

Abstract The objective of this research is to conduct mechanical property studies of skin from two individual but potentially connected aspects. One is to determine the mechanical properties of the skin experimentally by biaxial tests, and the other is to use the finite element method to model the skin properties. Dynamic biaxial tests were performed on 16 pieces of abdominal skin specimen from rats. Typical biaxial stress-strain responses show that skin possesses anisotropy, nonlinearity and hysteresis. To describe the stress-strain relationship in forms of strain energy function, the material constants of each specimen were obtained and More >

Q Wang^*, YP Zheng^∗,†, HJ Niu^∗,‡

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 45-58, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.045

Abstract This study aims to obtain osmosis-induced swelling strains of normal and proteoglycan (PG) depleted articular cartilage using an ultrasound system and to investigate the changes in its mechanical properties due to the PG depletion using a layered triphasic model. The swelling strains of 20 cylindrical cartilage-bone samples collected from different bovine patellae were induced by decreasing the concentration of bath saline and monitored by the ultrasound system. The samples were subsequently digested by a trypsin solution for approximately 20 min to deplete proteoglycans, and the swelling behaviors of the digested samples were measured again. The… More >