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- Joffre, Thomas, 1987-, et al.
(author)
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Characterization of interfacial stress transfer ability in acetylation-treated wood fibre composites using X-ray microtomography
- 2017
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In: Industrial crops and products (Print). - : Elsevier BV. - 0926-6690 .- 1872-633X. ; 95, s. 43-49
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The properties of the fibre/matrix interface contribute to stiffness, strength and fracture behaviour of fibre-reinforced composites. In cellulosic composites, the limited affinity between the hydrophilic fibres and the hydrophobic thermoplastic matrix remains a challenge, and the reinforcing capability of the fibres is hence not fully utilized. A direct characterisation of the stress transfer ability through pull-out tests on single fibres is extremely cumbersome due to the small dimension of the wood fibres. Here a novel approach is proposed: the length distribution of the fibres sticking out of the matrix at the fracture surface is approximated using X-ray microtomography and is used as an estimate of the adhesion between the fibres and the matrix. When a crack grows in the material, the fibres will either break or be pulled-out of the matrix depending on their adhesion to the matrix: good adhesion between the fibres and the matrix should result in more fibre breakage and less pull-out of the fibres than poor adhesion. The effect of acetylation on the adhesion between the wood fibres and the PLA matrix was evaluated at different moisture contents using the proposed method. By using an acetylation treatment of the fibres it was possible to improve the strength of the composite samples soaked in the water by more than 30%.
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| 3. |
- Joffre, Thomas, et al.
(author)
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Trabecular deformations during screw pull-out : a micro-CT study of lapine bone
- 2017
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In: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology. - : SPRINGER HEIDELBERG. - 1617-7959 .- 1617-7940. ; 16:4, s. 1349-1359
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mechanical fixation of endosseous implants, such as screws, in trabecular bone is challenging because of the complex porous microstructure. Development of new screw designs to improve fracture fixation, especially in high-porosity osteoporotic bone, requires a profound understanding of how the structural system implant/trabeculae interacts when it is subjected to mechanical load. In this study, pull-out tests of screw implants were performed. Screws were first inserted into the trabecular bone of rabbit femurs and then pulled out from the bone inside a computational tomography scanner. The tests were interrupted at certain load steps to acquire 3D images. The images were then analysed with a digital volume correlation technique to estimate deformation and strain fields inside the bone during the tests. The results indicate that the highest shear strains are concentrated between the inner and outer thread diameter, whereas compressive strains are found at larger distances from the screw. Tensile strains were somewhat smaller. Strain concentrations and the location of trabecular failures provide experimental information that could be used in the development of new screw designs and/or to validate numerical simulations.
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| 4. |
- Tummala, Gopi Krishna, 1986-, et al.
(author)
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Strain-induced stiffening of nanocellulose-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels mimicking collagenous soft tissues
- 2017
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In: Soft Matter. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1744-683X .- 1744-6848. ; 13:21, s. 3936-3945
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soft tissues possess remarkable mechanical strength for their high water content, which is hard to mimic in synthetic materials. Here, we demonstrate how strain-induced stiffening in hydrogels plays a major role in mimicking the mechanical properties of collagenous soft tissues. In particular, nanocellulose reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels of exceptionally high water content (90-93 wt%) are shown to exhibit collagen-like mechanical behavior typical for soft tissues. High water content and co-existence of both soft and rigid domains in the gel network are the main factors responsible for strain-induced stiffening. This observed effect due to the alignment of rigid components of the hydrogel is simulated through modeling and visualized through strain-induced birefringence experiments. Design parameters such as nanocellulose aspect ratio and solvent composition are also shown to be important to control the mechanical properties. In addition, owing to their transparency (90-95% at 550 nm) and hyperelastic properties (250-350% strain), the described hydrogels are promising materials for biomedical applications, especially in ophthalmology.
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