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Background: Diabetes is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, the mechanism by which diabetes can promote AD pathology remains unknown. Diabetes results in diverse molecular changes in the brain, including dysregulation of glucose metabolism and loss of cerebrovascular homeostasis. Although these changes have been associated with increased Aβ pathology and increased expression of glial activation markers in APPswe/ PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice, there has been limited characterization, to date, of the neuroinflammatory changes associated with diabetic conditions. Results: Our analysis revealed that pathology associated with either db/db, HFD, or STZ models yielded upregulation of a broad profile of cytokines, including chemokines (e.g., MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and MCP-1) and proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-1α, IFN-γ, and IL-3. Moreover, multivariate partial least squares regression analysis showed that combined diabetic-APP/PS1 models yielded cooperatively enhanced expression of the cytokine profile associated with each diabetic model alone. Finally, in APP/PS1xdb/db mice, we found that circulating levels of Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42, glucose, and insulin all correlated with cytokine expression in the brain, suggesting a strong relationship between peripheral changes and brain pathology. Conclusions: Altogether, our multiplexed analysis of cytokines shows that Alzheimer’s and diabetic pathologies cooperate to enhance profiles of cytokines reported to be involved in both diseases. Moreover, since many of the identified cytokines promote neuronal injury, Aβ and tau pathology, and breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, our data suggest that neuroinflammation may mediate the effects of diabetes on AD pathogenesis. Therefore, strategies targeting neuroinflammatory signaling, as well as metabolic control, may provide a promising strategy for intervening in the development of diabetes-associated AD., This work was funded in part by Programa Estatal de I+D+I orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad (BFU 2016-75038-R), financed by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Explora Ciencia, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (BFU2017-91910-EXP), Subvención para la financiación de la investigación y la innovación biomédica y en ciencias de la salud en el marco de la Iniciativa Territorial Integrada 2014–2020 para la provincia de Cádiz, Consejeria de Salud, Junta de Andalucia, Union Europea, financed by the Fondo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (PI-0008- 2017) (M.G.A.). This work was also supported by startup funds from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech (L.B.W.) and by the National Institutes of Health under grant number R33 ES025661 04S1. LDW was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health Cell and Tissue Engineering Biotechnology Training Grant (T32- GM008433).

International audience; Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has high potential for large-scale clonal propagation of conifers. Different types of bioreactor cultures have been tested for the conifer SE process where the temporary immersion bioreactors (TIBs) have proved to be useful across the different developmental steps of the SE process. In the present study the use of TIBs was tested for hybrid larch (Larix × eurolepis Henry). The results showed twofold increases in both fresh weight (FW) of pro-embryogenic masses (PEMs) and yield of cotyledonary embryos in the TIBs compared to solid medium in plates. For the germination phase, the highest number of roots per plant, the root length and height of plants were also obtained in the TIBs. The results show that the TIB system can be successfully used to support scale up of plant production in all steps of the SE process from proliferation to germination of hybrid larch (Larix × eurolepis Henry).

Mechanistically based constitutive models incorporate several key parameters that describe the macroscopic response and microstructure evolution of a polycrystalline metal alloy under external loading. To date, careful calibration of these parameters has for the most part relied on characterization methods that lack spatial resolution. With the intent of facilitating future model development, this work investigates feasibility of using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to characterize realistic strain fields in polycrystalline metals. First, crystal plasticity based simulations are used to obtain displacement and strain fields in a polycrystalline aluminum alloy with average grain size ~ 200 µm under uniaxial tension up to 10% macroscopic strain. Second, random speckle patterns are generated on a metal alloy surface and their optical images are acquired. The images are numerically deformed according to the displacement field predicted by the model. DIC strain maps are obtained using standard methods with subset diameter within 15–50% of the grain size and are compared against the applied fields. Overall, the results demonstrate that DIC is capable of obtaining sufficiently accurate strain fields to validate or challenge simulations. At various applied strain magnitudes, DIC strain maps measured from a high-quality pattern are able to reproduce over 95% of the simulation strain field with relative errors less than 10%, and over 60% of the simulation strain field with relative errors less than 5%. Achieving this level accuracy relies on the proper DIC analysis settings. When the deformation is locally homogeneous, the DIC accuracy increases as the subset window size increases. In contrast, in regions where strain within each subset is highly localized, DIC accuracy increases as the subset window decreases. Suggestions for improving standard DIC algorithms to enable quantitative model-data comparison are discussed.

International audience; Owing to the use of solid electrolytes instead of flammable and potentially toxic organic liquid electrolytes, all solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) are considered to have substantial advantages over conventional liquid electrolyte based lithium ion batteries(LIBs) in terms of safety, energy density, battery packaging, and operable temperature range. However, the electrochemistry and the operation mechanism of ASSLBs differ considerably from conventional LIBs. Consequently, the failure mechanisms of ASSLBs, which are not well understood, require particular attention. To improve the performance and realize practical applications of ASSLBs, it is crucial to unravel the dynamic evolution of electrodes, solid electrolytes, and their interfaces and interphases during cycling of ASSLBs. In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides a powerful approach for the fundamental investigation of structural and chemical changes during operation of ASSLBs with high spatio-temporal resolution. Herein, recent progress in in situ TEM studies of ASSLBs are reviewed with a specific focus on real-time observations of reaction and degradation occurring in electrodes, solid electrolytes, and their interfaces. Novel electro-chemo-mechanical coupling phenomena are revealed and mechanistic insights are highlighted. This review covers a broad range of electrode and electrolyte materials applied in ASSLBs, demonstrates the general applicability of in situ TEM for elucidating the fundamental mechanisms and providing the design guidance for the development of high-performance ASSLBs. Finally, challenges and opportunities for in situ TEM studies of ASSLBs are discussed.

International audience; Vibrations of a mechanical structure can be reduced through a piezoelectric coupling to a passive electrical network exhibiting similar modal properties. For the control of a plate, the design of a two-dimensional analogous electrical network is considered. Depending on the mechanical boundary conditions, a finite difference formulation of the Kirchhoff-Love equation of motion shows that we need to ensure specific electrical connections along the edges of the analogous network. A numerical model involving an assembly of element matrices validates the electrical topology. Then, the passive electrical circuit is implemented with capacitors, inductors and transformers, whose practical design is closely described. Focusing on the analogue of a clamped plate, experiments prove the ability of the proposed electrical network to approximate the behavior of the mechanical structure.

In this paper, we present a deep learning-based (DL-based) algorithm, as a purely mathematical platform, for providing intuitive understanding of the properties of electromagnetic (EM) wave-matter interaction in nanostructures. This approach is based on using the dimensionality reduction (DR) technique to significantly reduce the dimensionality of a generic EM wave-matter interaction problem without imposing significant error. Such an approach implicitly provides useful information about the role of different features (or design parameters such as geometry) of the nanostructure in its response functionality. To demonstrate the practical capabilities of this DL-based technique, we apply it to a reconfigurable optical metadevice enabling dual-band and triple-band optical absorption in the telecommunication window. Combination of the proposed approach with existing commercialized full-wave simulation tools offers a powerful toolkit to extract basic mechanisms of wave-matter interaction in complex EM devices and facilitate the design and optimization of nanostructures for a large range of applications including imaging, spectroscopy, and signal processing. It is worth to mention that the demonstrated approach is general and can be used in a large range of problems as long as enough training data can be provided.

The consequences of a four-point bending test, up to 12 mm, are examined by emitting 1 MHz ultrasonic guided waves in woven carbon fiber reinforced polymer specimens, using coda wave interferometry (CWI), revealing a potential use for nondestructive evaluation. It is known that CWI is more sensitive to realistic damage than the conventional method based on the first arriving time of flight in geophysical, or in civil engineering applications such as concrete structures. However, in composite materials CWI is not well established because of the involved structural complexity. In this paper, CWI is investigated for monitoring the occurrence of realistic defects such as micro-cracks in a woven carbon fiber composite plate. The micro-cracks are generated by a four-point bending test. The damage state is stepwise enhanced by gradually increasing the load level, until failure initiation. The damage is monitored, after each loading, using ultrasound. It is demonstrated that CWI is a powerful tool to detect damage, even low levels, in the sample. Two damage indicators based on CWI, i.e. signals correlation coefficient and relative velocity change, are investigated and appear to be complimentary. Under significant loading levels, the normalized cross-correlation coefficient between the waveforms recorded in the damaged and in the healthy sample (reference at 0 mm), decreases sharply; this first indicator is therefore useful for severe damage detection. It is also demonstrated, by means of a second indicator, that the relative velocity change between a baseline signal taken at zero loading, and the signals taken at various loadings, is linear as a function of the loading, until a critical level is reached; therefore this second indicator, is useful for low damage level detection. The obtained evolution of the relative velocity measurement is supported by relative comparison to the evolution of the bending modulus in function of displacement. The relative velocity change exhibits the same evolution as the bending modulus with loading. It could be used to indicate when the material stiffness has decreased significantly. The research is done in the framework of composite manufacturing quality control and appears to be a promising inspection technique. This work is supported by the Région Grand Est.

We study the radiative heat transfer between multilayer structures made by a periodic repetition of a graphene sheet and a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) slab. Surface plasmons in a monolayer graphene can couple with a hyperbolic phonon polaritons in a single hBN film to form hybrid polaritons that can assist photon tunneling. For periodic multilayer graphene/hBN structures, the stacked metallic/dielectric array can give rise to a further effective hyperbolic behavior, in addition to the intrinsic natural hyperbolic behavior of hBN. The effective hyperbolicity can enable more hyperbolic polaritons that enhance the photon tunneling and hence the near-field heat transfer. However, the hybrid polaritons on the surface, i.e. surface plasmon-phonon polaritons, dominate the near-field heat transfer between multilayer structures when the topmost layer is graphene. The effective hyperbolic regions can be well predicted by the effective medium theory (EMT), thought EMT fails to capture the hybrid surface polaritons and results in a heat transfer rate much lower compared to the exact calculation. The chemical potential of the graphene sheets can be tuned through electrical gating and results in an additional modulation of the heat transfer. We found that the near-field heat transfer between multilayer structure does not increase monotonously with the number of layer in the stack, which provides a way to control the heat transfer rate by the number of graphene layers in the multilayer structure. The results may benefit the applications of near-field energy harvesting and radiative cooling based on hybrid polaritons in two-dimensional materials., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures

International audience; Recently, it has been shown that constructs of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel fibers reproduce closely the tensile behavior of ligaments. However, the biological response to these systems has not been explored yet. Here, we report the first in vivo evaluation of these implants and focus on the integration in bone, using a rabbit model of bone tunnel healing. Implants consisted in bundles of PVA hydrogel fibers embedded in a PVA hydrogel matrix. Half of the samples were coated with a composite coating of hydroxyapatite (HA) particles embedded in PVA hydrogel. The biological integration was evaluated at 6 weeks using histology and micro-CT imaging. For all implants, a good biological tolerance and growth of new bone tissue are reported. All the implants were surrounded by a fibrous layer comparable to what was previously observed for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers currently used in humans for ligament reconstruction. An image analysis method is proposed to quantify the thickness of this fibrous capsule. Implants coated with HA were not significantly osteoconductive, which can be attributed to the slow dissolution of the selected hydroxyapatite. Overall, these results confirm the relevance of PVA hydrogel fibers for ligament reconstruction and adjustments are proposed to enhance its osseointegration.

International audience; Terahertz imaging is applied to characterize a hybrid fiber-reinforced composite laminate subject to low-velocity impact in this study. The hybrid fiber-reinforced composite laminate comprises unidirectional glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy plies with a cross-ply stack pattern. Both impact-induced intra- and inter-laminar damages are successfully detected, and the damage evolution throughout the thickness is also evaluated. The interaction between the terahertz polarization and carbon-fiber orientation is investigated in detail. Inter-laminar damage at the interface and the intra-laminar damage close to the same interface can be differentiated via polarization-resolved imaging. With a parameter fitting method based on multiple regression analysis, delamination is characterized quantitatively. Terahertz C- and B-scan images clearly exhibit the propagation of the damage from the top to the bottom surface in three dimensions.

International audience; Multimodal passive damping of a mechanical structure can be implemented by a coupling to a secondary structure exhibiting similar modal properties. When considering a piezoelectric coupling, the secondary structure is an electrical network. A suitable topology for such a network can be obtained by a finite difference formulation of the mechanical equations, followed by a direct electromechanical analogy. This procedure is applied to the Kirchhoff-Love theory in order to find the electrical analogue of a clamped plate. The passive electrical network is implemented with inductors, transformers and the inherent capacitance of the piezoelectric patches. The electrical resonances are tuned to approach those of several mechanical modes simultaneously. This yields a broadband reduction of the plate vibrations through the array of interconnected piezoelectric patches. The robustness of the control strategy is evaluated by introducing perturbations in the mechanical or electrical designs. A non-optimal tuning is considered by way of a uniform variation of the network inductance. Then, the effect of local or boundary modifications of the electromechanical system is observed experimentally. In the end, the use of an analogous electrical network appears as an efficient and robust solution for the multimodal control of a plate.

International audience; The level set method is becoming one of the most effective tools for predicting the shape and position of moving interfaces. However, this method has not yet been fully developed in the area of mechanics of materials, where interfaces, are generally treated as discrete entities. In this work, numerical simulations of an interface motion associated with a diffusion -driven phase transformation are performed using the level set method. The constitutive relation of the mobile interface, linking its thermodynamical driving force with its velocity, is derived from the dissipation function. The governing partial differential equation for the coupled diffusion field level set function was motivated by the original work of Adalsteinsson and Sethian (2003), and is here developed further to enforce the requirement that Fick's second law be satisfied locally in a direction normal to the interface. The coupled diffusion-level set model is implemented into the finite element method and is then used to solve a phase transformation problem in a Ni-base superalloy.

International audience; This article presents a synthesis of the investigations at the atomic scale of the transport properties of defects and fission gases in uranium dioxide, as well as of the transfer of results from the atomic scale to models at the mesoscopic scale, performed during the F-BRIDGE European project (2008-2012). We first present the mesoscale models used to investigate uranium oxide fuel under irradiation, and in particular the cluster dynamics and kinetic Monte Carlo methods employed to model the behaviour of defects and fission gases in UO$_2$ , as well as the parameters of these models. Second, we describe briefly the atomic scale methods employed, i.e. electronic structure calculations and empirical potential methods. Then, we show the results of the calculation of the data necessary for the mesoscale models using these atomic scale methods. Finally, we summarise the links built between the atomic and mesoscopic scale by listing the data calculated at the atomic scale which are to be used as input in mesoscale modelling. Despite specific difficulties in the description of fuel materials, the results obtained in F-BRIDGE show that atomic scale modelling methods are now mature enough to obtain precise data to feed higher scale models and help interpret experiments on nuclear fuels. These methods bring valuable insight, in particular the formation, binding and migration energies of point and extended defects, fission product local-ization, incorporation energies and migration pathways, elementary mechanisms of irradiation induced processes. These studies open the way for the investigation of other significant phenomena involved in fuel behaviour, in particular the thermochemical and thermomechanical properties and their evolution in-pile, complex microstructures, as well as of more complex fuels.

Many recent and often adaptive Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are associated in practice to unknown rates of convergence. We propose a simulation-based methodology to estimate MCMC efficiency, grounded on a Kullback divergence criterion requiring an estimate of the entropy of the algorithm successive densities, computed from iid simulated chains. We recently proved in Chauveau and Vandekerkhove (2013) some consistency results in MCMC setup for an entropy estimate based on Monte-Carlo integration of a kernel density estimate based on Györfi and Van Der Meulen (1989). Since this estimate requires some tuning parameters and deteriorates as dimension increases, we investigate here an alternative estimation technique based on Nearest Neighbor estimates. This approach has been initiated by Kozachenko and Leonenko (1987) but used mostly in univariate situations until recently when entropy estimation has been considered in other fields like neuroscience. Theoretically, we prove that, under certain uniform control conditions, the successive densities of a generic class of Adaptive Metropolis-Hastings algorithms to which most of the strategies proposed in the recent literature belong can be estimated consistently with our method. We then show that in MCMC setup where moderate to large dimensions are common, this estimate seems appealing for both computational and operational considerations, and that the problem inherent to a non neglictible bias arising in high dimension can be overcome. All our algorithms for MCMC simulation and entropy estimation are implemented in an R package taking advantage of recent advances in high performance (parallel) computing.

Many recent (including adaptive) MCMC methods are associated in practice to unknown rates of convergence. We propose a simulation-based methodology to estimate MCMC efficiency, grounded on a Kullback divergence criterion requiring an estimate of the entropy of the algorithm successive densities, computed from iid simulated chains. We recently proved in Chauveau and Vandekerkhove (2013) some consistency results in MCMC setup for an entropy estimate based on Monte-Carlo integration of a kernel density estimate based on Gyorfi and Van Der Meulen (1989). Since this estimate requires some tuning parameters and deteriorates as dimension increases, we investigate here an alternative estimation technique based on Nearest Neighbor (NN) estimates. This approach has been initiated by Kozachenko and Leonenko (1987) but used mostly in univariate situations until recently when entropy estimation has been considered in other fields like neuroscience. We show that in MCMC setup where moderate to large dimensions are common, this estimate seems appealing for both computational and operational considerations, and that the problem inherent to a non neglictible bias arising in high dimension can be overcome. All our algorithms for MCMC simulation and entropy estimation are implemented in an R package taking advantage of recent advances in high performance (parallel) computing.

International audience; In the last few decades, researchers have given a lot of attention to new engineered materials with the purpose of developing new technologies and devices such as mechanical filters, low frequency sound and vibration isolators, and acoustic waveguides. For instance, elastic phononic crystals may come to mind. They are materials with elastic or fluid inclusions inside a matrix made of an elastic solid. The anomalous behavior in phononic crystals arises from interference of waves propagating within an inhomogeneous material. The inclusions inside the matrix cause strong modifications of scattering properties. However, the application of phononic crystals is still limited to sonic frequencies. In fact, band gaps can be generated only when the acoustic wavelength is comparable to the distance between the inclusion. In order to overcome this limitation, a new class of metamaterial has been proposed: meta composite. This new class of material can modify the dynamics of the underlying structure using a bidimensional array of electromechanical transducers, which are composed by piezo patches connected to a synthetic negative capacitance. In this study, an application of the Floquet-Bloch theorem for vibroacoustic power flow optimization will be presented. In the context of periodically distributed, damped 2D mechanical systems, this numerical approach allows one to compute the multimodal waves dispersion curves into the entire first Brillouin zone. This approach also permits optimization of the piezoelectric shunting electrical impedance, which controls energy diffusion into the proposed semiactive distributed set of cells. Experiments performed on the examined structure illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed control method. The experiment requires a rectangular metallic plate equipped with seventyfive piezopatches, controlled independently by electronic circuits. More specifically, the out-of-plane displacements and the averaged kinetic energy of the controlled plate are compared in two different cases (control system on/off). The resulting data clearly show how this proposed technique is able to dampen and selectively reflect the incident waves.

A complete micromechanics-based model is here proposed using the concepts of continuum kinematics and thermodynamics. A new constitutive framework is proposed to describe stress-induced “shear-coupled” grain boundary (GB) migration. Like non diffusive phase-transformations, shear-coupled GB migration can be considered on the thermodynamics point of view of conservative nature until high temperature with respect to melting point (i.e., diffusionless but thermally activated). The micromechanics-based continuum model can include intra-crystalline slip, GB sliding and shear-coupled GB migration as additive dissipative mechanisms. To illustrate the present theory, the model is applied to shear-coupled GB migration in the case of three “flat” Cu bi-crystals [0 01˙] with symmetric tilt GB (STGB): Σ 17(410) ( θ = 28.07 ° ), Σ 5 ( 210 ) ( θ = 53.13 ° ), Σ 41(540) ( θ = 77.32 ° ). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations under simple shear loading are first performed to identify the active shear coupling modes, the stick–slip behavior at 0 K and 500 K and the bicrystal finite size dependence on the shear stress responses. The results of the micromechanical model are discussed in comparison with MD simulations. The effects of anisotropic vs. isotropic elastic properties on effective elastic shear moduli, overall shear stress drop magnitudes and dissipated energy during GB migration are analyzed for these STGB.

In this paper, we consider the problem of selecting the most appropriate model from many possible models to describe datasets involving mixtures of distributions. The proposed method consists of finding the maximul likelihood estimators (MLEs) of different assumed mixture models that describe a dataset, using the Expectation- Maximization (EM) algorithm, and subsequently using bootstrap sampling technique to identify the distance between the empirical cumulative distribution function (cdf) of the dataset and the MLE fitted cdf. To test the goodness of fit, a new metric, the Integrated Cumulative Error (ICE) is proposed and compared with other existing metrics for accuracy of detecting the appropriate model. The ICE metric shows a markedly improved performance, from the existing metrics, in identifying the correct mixture model. The method is applied to model the distribution of indicators of the fatigue crack formation potency, obtained from numerical experiments.

International audience; A recent technological revolution in the fields of integrated MEMS has finally rendered possible the mechanical integration of active smart materials, electronics and power supply systems for the next generation of smart composite structures. Using a bi-dimensional array of electromechanical transducers, composed by piezo-patches connected to a synthetic negative capacitance, it is possible to modify the dynamics of the underlying structure. In this study, we present an application of the Floquet-Bloch theorem for vibroacoustic power flow optimization, by means of distributed shunted piezoelectric material. In the context of periodically distributed damped 2D mechanical systems, this numerical approach allows one to compute the multi-modal waves dispersion curves into the entire first Brillouin zone. This approach also permits optimization of the piezoelectric shunting electrical impedance, which controls energy diffusion into the proposed semi-active distributed set of cells. Furthermore, we present experimental evidence that proves the effectiveness of the proposed control method. The experiment requires a rectangular metallic plate equipped with seventy-five piezo-patches, controlled independently by electronic circuits. More specifically, the out-of-plane displacements and the averaged kinetic energy of the controlled plate are compared in two different cases (open-circuit and controlled circuit). The resulting data clearly show how this proposed technique is able to damp and selectively reflect the incident waves.

International audience; Multimodal damping can be achieved by coupling a mechanical structure to an electrical network exhibiting similar modal properties. Focusing on a plate, a new topology for such an electrical analogue is found from a finite difference approximation of the Kirchhoff-Love theory and the use of the direct electromechanical analogy. Discrete models based on element dynamic stiffness matrices are proposed to simulate square plate unit cells coupled to their electrical analogues through two-dimensional piezoelectric transducers. A setup made of a clamped plate covered with an array of piezoelectric patches is built in order to validate the control strategy and the numerical models. The analogous electrical network is implemented with passive components as inductors, transformers and the inherent capacitance of the piezoelectric patches. The effect of the piezoelectric coupling on the dynamics of the clamped plate is significant as it creates the equivalent of a multimodal tuned mass damping. An adequate tuning of the network then yields a broadband vibration reduction. In the end, the use of an analogous electrical network appears as an efficient solution for the multimodal control of a plate.

Bone tunnel healing is an important consideration after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) replacement surgery. Recently, a variety of materials have been proposed for improving this healing process, including autologous bone tissue, cells, artificial proteins, and calcium salts. Amongst these materials are calcium phosphates (CaPs), which are known for their biocompatibility and are widely commercially available. As with the majority of the materials investigated, CaPs have been shown to advance the healing of bone tunnel tissue in animal studies. Mechanical testing shows fixation strengths to be improved, particularly by the application of CaP-based cement in the bone tunnel. Significantly, CaP-based cements have been shown to produce improvements comparable to those induced by potentially more complex treatments such as biologics (including fibronectin and chitin) and cultured cells. Further investigation of CaP-based treatment in the bone tunnels during ACL replacement is therefore warranted in order to establish what improvements in healing and resulting clinical benefits may be achieved through its application.

International audience; Insufficient bone anchoring is a major limitation of artificial substitutes for connective osteoarticular tissues. The use of coatings containing osseoconductive ceramic particles is one of the actively explored strategies to improve osseointegration and strengthen the bone-implant interface for general tissue engineering. Our hypothesis is that hydroxyapatite (HA) particles can be coated robustly on specific assemblies of PVA hydrogel fibers for the potential anchoring of ligament replacements. A simple dip-coating method is described to produce composite coatings made of microscopic hydroxyapatite (HA) particles dispersed in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix. The materials are compatible with the requirements for implant Good Manufacturing Practices. They are applied to coat bundles of PVA hydrogel fibers used for the development of ligament implants. By means of optical and electronic microscopy, we show that the coating thickness and surface state can be adjusted by varying the composition of the dipping solution. Quantitative analysis based on backscattered electron microscopy show that the exposure of HA at the coating surface can be tuned from 0 to over 55% by decreasing the weight ratio of PVA over HA from 0.4 to 0.1. Abrasion experiments simulating bone-implant contact illustrate how the coating cohesion and wear resistance increase by increasing the content of PVA relative to HA. Using pullout experiments, we find that these coatings adhere well to the fiber bundles and detach by propagation of a crack inside the coating. These results provide a guide to select coated implants for anchoring artificial ligaments.

International audience; L'amplitude vibratoire d'une structure mince peut être réduite grâce au couplage électromécanique qu'offrent les matériaux piézoélectriques. En termes d'amortissement passif, les shunts piézoélectriques permettent une conversion de l'énergie vibratoire en énergie électrique. La présence d'une inductance dans le circuit crée une résonance électrique due à l'échange de charges avec la capacité du patch. Ainsi, l'ajustement de la fréquence propre de ce shunt résonant à celle de la structure mécanique équivaut à la mise en œuvre d'un amortisseur à masse accordée. Cette stratégie est étendue au contrôle d'une structure multimodale par multiplication du nombre de patchs piézoélectriques. Ceux-ci sont interconnectés via un réseau électrique ayant un comportement modal approximant celui de la structure à contrôler. Ce réseau multi-résonant permet donc le contrôle simultané de plusieurs modes mécaniques. La topologie électrique adéquate est obtenue par discrétisation de la structure mécanique puis par analogie électromécanique directe. Le réseau analogue fait apparaître des inductances et des transformateurs dont le nombre et les valeurs sont choisis en fonction de la bande de fréquences à contrôler. Cette méthode est appliquée à l'amortissement de structures unidimensionnelles de type barre ou poutre. La stratégie est ensuite étendue au contrôle de plaques minces par mise en œuvre d'un réseau électrique bidimensionnel.

International audience; Le principe du shunt piézoélectrique résonant est étendu au contrôle d'une structure multimodale par multiplication du nombre de patchs piézoélectriques. Ceux-ci sont interconnectés via un réseau élec-trique ayant un comportement modal approximant celui de la structure à contrôler. Pour une plaque mince, l'application de la méthode des différences finies aux équations continues de Kirchhoff-Love permet d'obtenir un ensemble d'équations discrètes qui définissent un modèle différences finies d'une cellule élémentaire de plaque. À partir de ce modèle mécanique discret, l'analogie électromécanique mène à un réseau électrique analogue constituées d'inductances et de transformateurs. Quand le réseau bidimensionnel est connecté à un ensemble de patchs piézoélectriques, le système complet fait appa-raître une coïncidence à la fois spatiale et fréquentielle entre les modes de résonance de plaque et ceux de l'analogue électrique. Le couplage piézoélectrique entre les deux sous-domaines génère un transfert énergétique sur une large plage de fréquences. On obtient donc un réseau multi-résonant qui permet le contrôle simultané de plusieurs modes mécaniques. Expérimentalement, on observe des réductions d'amplitude vibratoire de plus de 20 décibels sur les 5 premiers modes d'une plaque. Ceci démontre le potentiel de la stratégie de contrôle passif en matière d'amortissement multimodal. Abstract : Multimodal damping can be achieved by coupling a mechanical structure to an electrical network exhibiting similar modal properties. Focusing on a plate, an adequate topology for such an electrical analogue is found from a finite difference approximation of the Kirchhoff-Love theory and the use of the direct electromechanical analogy. A setup made of a clamped plate covered with an array of piezoelec-tric patches is built in order to validate the control strategy and the numerical models. The analogous electrical network is implemented with passive components as inductors, transformers and the inherent capacitance of the piezoelectric patches. The effect of the piezoelectric coupling on the dynamics of the clamped plate is significant as it creates the equivalent of a multimodal tuned mass damping. An adequate tuning of the network then yields a broadband vibration reduction. In the end, the use of an analogous electrical network appears as an efficient solution for the multimodal control of a plate. Mots clefs : Amortissement vibratoire, Contrôle passif, Couplage piézoélec-trique, Réseau électrique analogue, Composants magnétiques 23 ème Congrès Français de Mécanique Lille, 28 Août au 1 er Septembre 2017

Recently, a small-distortion theory of coupled plasticity and phase transformation accounting for the kinematics and thermodynamics of generalized defects called generalized disclinations (abbreviated g-disclinations) has been proposed by Acharya and Fressengeas (2012, 2015). Then, a first numerical spectral approach has been developed to solve the elasto-static equations of field dislocation and g-disclination mechanics set out in this theory for periodic media and for linear elastic media using the classic Hooke’s law within a Cauchy stress theory (Berbenni et al. 2014). Here, given a spatial distribution of generalized disclination density tensors in a homogenous linear higher order elastic media, a couple stress theory with elastic incompatibilities of first and second orders is developed. The incompatible and compatible elastic second and first distortions are obtained from the solution of Poisson and Navier-type equations in the Fourier space. The efficient Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm is used based on intrinsic Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT) that are well adapted to the discrete grid to compute higher order partial derivatives in the Fourier space. Therefore, stress and couple stress fields can be calculated using the inverse FFT. The numerical examples are given for straight wedge disclinations and associated wedge disclination dipoles which are of importance to geometrically describe tilt grain boundaries at fine scales in polycrystalline solids.

International audience; Multimodal vibration reduction can be obtained by coupling a mechanical structure to an electrical network approximating its modal properties. This strategy is applied to the control of a clamped plate with a 2D network of passive electrical components. The plate and the network are coupled through a periodic array of piezoelectric patches that enables the energy conversion. The network is experimentally implemented with inductors and transformers in order to create electrical resonances that present a spatial distribution approaching the first mode shapes of the plate. By tuning electrical resonances to mechanical ones, it becomes possible to introduce the equivalent of a tuned mass effect. This effect only occurs if the electrical and mechanical mode shapes are sufficiently close, which requires specific network topology and boundary conditions. Once the network is tuned, adding resistors introduces damping that can lead to a broadband vibration reduction of the plate. It is thus shown that a 2D control can be implemented with a purely passive solution, which could be of great interest for many embedded applications.