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Fatigue capacity of mooring chains is one of the important parameters in design of mooring systems for floating offshore structures. Fatigue life is often a limiting factor. With life extension of existing offshore installations, the fatigue capacity and effects of corrosion become even more important, as there will be large costs for mooring line replacements if safe life extension can not be granted, and the effect of fatigue failure can be fatal. Estimation of the fatigue capacity of mooring chains is thus of high importance both for safe and cost-effective design of new mooring systems, and for the safe life extension of older mooring systems. The standards used for design of mooring systems outline a somewhat simplified approach for fatigue analysis, where load cycle range is the only parameter included in the analysis. The fatigue capacity curves used are based on full scale fatigue tests of new chains, where effects of heavily corroded surfaces are not considered. Further it is indirectly assumed that mean load does not have any effect on fatigue capacity. Work presented the last years has indicated a strong effect of both mean load and surface condition, where also formulas for fatigue capacity including these parameters have been developed and presented. The conclusions are based on a large set of full-scale fatigue tests of both new chains and used chains, where the used chains are tested at different mean loads and different levels of corrosion. Equinor has run a large number of used chain fatigue tests. For these tests, each set of tests is typically made from one chain length, with similar condition on all links, and usually run at one mean load only. There are test sets with some variation in either mean load or surface condition, which have added valuable data for the understanding and verification of the effect of these parameters. The effects are well documented, but due to small variation within each set there are uncertainties regarding the quantification of the effects. The latest full-scale fatigue test results, from a chain with significant corrosion pits, include a systematic approach to quantify the effect of mean load. For the chain tested, five tests have been run at low mean load, and five tests at high mean load. This paper presents the results from these fatigue tests. The results are discussed and compared with other fatigue test results on both new and used chain, and with the formulas for fatigue capacity accounting for mean load and surface corrosion.

Collagen fibers are the main load carrier in the mitral valve (MV) leaflets. Their orientation and dispersion are an important factor for the mechanical behavior. Most recent studies of collagen fibers in MVs lack either entire thickness study or high transmural resolution. The present study uses second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy in combination with planar biaxial mechanical tests to better model and examine collagen fibers and mechanical properties of MV leaflets. SHG in combination with tissue clearing enables the collagen fibers to be examined through the entire thickness of the MV leaflets. Planar biaxial mechanical tests, on the other hand, enable the characterization of the mechanical tissue behavior, which is represented by a structural tissue model. Twelve porcine MV leaflets are examined. The SHG recording shows that the mean fiber angle for all samples varies on average by [[EQUATION]] over the entire thickness and the collagen fiber dispersion changes strongly over the thickness. A constitutive model based on the generalized structure tensor approach is used for the associated tissue characterization. The model represents the tissue with three mechanical parameters plus the mean fiber direction and the dispersion, and predicts the biomechanical response of the leaflets with a good agreement (average ). It is found that the collagen structure can be represented by a mean direction and a dispersion with a single family of fibers despite the variation in the collagen fiber direction and the dispersion over the entire thickness of MV leaflets. Funding Information: None to declare. Declaration of Interests: None to declare.

The trachea is a complex tissue made up of hyaline cartilage, fibrous tissue, and muscle fibers. Currently, the knowledge of microscopic structural organization of these components and their role in determining the tissue’s mechanical response is very limited. The purpose of this study is to provide data on the microstructure of the tracheal components and its influence on tissue’s mechanical response. Five bovine tracheae were used in this study. Adventitia, cartilage, mucosa/submucosa, and trachealis muscle layers were methodically cut out from the whole tissue. Second-harmonic generation(SHG) via multi-photon microscopy (MPM) enabled imaging of collagen fibers and muscle fibers. Simultaneously, a planar biaxial test rig was used to record the mechanical behavior of each layer. In total 60 samples were tested and analyzed. Fiber architecture in the adventitia and mucosa/submucosa layer showed high degree of anisotropy with the mean fiber angle varying from sample to sample. The trachealis muscle displayed neat layers of fibers organized in the longitudinal direction. The cartilage also displayed a structure of thick mesh-work of collagen type II organized predominantly towards the circumferential direction. Further, mechanical testing demonstrated the anisotropic nature of the tissue components. The cartilage was identified as the stiffest component for strain level 20% and hence the primary load bearing component. The other three layers displayed a non-linear mechanical response which could be explained by the structure and organization of their fibers. This study is useful in enhancing the utilization of structurally motivated material models for predicting tracheal overall mechanical response.

A new anisotropic finite strain viscoelastic model is presented, which is based on the Holzapfel type anisotropic hyperelastic strain-energy function. The anisotropic viscous part is set to be independent from the isotropic viscous part. A corresponding multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient is presented, and a specific definition of the anisotropic viscous fiber term. A new method to develop the evolution equations of the viscous internal variables is also provided. The time derivatives of the internal variables for the isotropic and anisotropic viscous parts are obtained from the evolution equation of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress for the viscous part. The corresponding analytical validation of non-negative dissipation using the second law of thermodynamics is provided. The incompressible plane stress case is used to achieve an analytical solution for the proposed constitutive model. A good agreement between the finite element results and the analytical solution is obtained. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented, including the viscous hysteresis response, experimental data fitting and a relaxation test.

Aqueous microgels are distinct entities of soft matter with mechanical signatures that can be different from their macroscopic counterparts due to confinement effects in the preparation, inherently made to consist of more than one domain (Janus particles) or further processing by coating and change in the extent of crosslinking of the core. Motivated by the importance of the mechanical properties of such microgels from a fundamental point, but also related to numerous applications, we provide a perspective on the experimental strategies currently available and emerging tools being explored. Albeit all techniques in principle exploit enforcing stress and observing strain, the realization differs from directly, as, e.g., by atomic force microscope, to less evident in a fluid field combined with imaging by a high-speed camera in high-throughput strategies. Moreover, the accompanying analysis strategies also reflect such differences, and the level of detail that would be preferred for a comprehensive understanding of the microgel mechanical properties are not always implemented. Overall, the perspective is that current technologies have the capacity to provide detailed, nanoscopic mechanical characterization of microgels over an extended size range, to the high-throughput approaches providing distributions over the mechanical signatures, a feature not readily accessible by atomic force microscopy and micropipette aspiration.

The full-field digital image correlation (DIC) technique was used to identify crack initiation and early crack growth on irregular, corroded surfaces from offshore mooring chain. Finite element analysis was paired with the DIC measurements, which made it possible to correlate initiation events with local stress concentrations due to corrosion pits. An initiation S-N curve was established based on this correlation. It included 14 crack initiation events from 4 specimens, in addition to statistical treatment of regions where no initiation occurred. The first cracks initiated at 13–24% of the total lifetimes of the specimens.

Barlow’s disease affects the entire mitral valve apparatus, by altering several of the fundamental mechanisms in the mitral valve which ensures unidirectional blood flow between the left atrium and the left ventricle. In this paper, a finite element model of a patient diagnosed with Barlow’s disease with patient-specific geometry and boundary conditions is presented. The geometry and boundary conditions are extracted from the echocardiographic assessment of the patient prior to surgery. Material properties representing myxomatous, healthy human and animal mitral valves are implemented and computed response are compared with each other and the echocardiographic images of the patient. This study shows that the annular dilation observed in Barlow’s patients controls several aspects of the mitral valve behavior during ventricular systole. The coaptation of the leaflets is observed to be highly dependent on annular dilation, and the coaptation area reduces rapidly at the onset of mitral regurgitation. Furthermore, the leaflet material implementation is important to predict lack of closure in the FE model correctly. It was observed that using healthy human material parameters in the Barlow’s diseased FE geometry gave severe lack of closure from the onset of mitral regurgitation, while myxomatous material properties showed a more physiological leakage.

Some cyclically loaded components such as mooring chains can develop fatigue cracks in locations where the shape of the part is equivalent to that of a curved or bent round bar. Here we consider a semi-elliptical crack growing from the surface of a curved round bar. This geometry can for example represent a chain link segment with a crack located at its inner- or outer radius. The surface crack can be either almond shaped, sickle shaped or straight-fronted. Stress intensity factors (SIFs) over the fronts of such crack geometries are in the present work investigated for several elementary mode I stress distributions. Finite element analysis and linear elastic fracture mechanics methods are used to develop semi-analytical solutions for the SIF at any point on the crack front. Effects of relative bar curvature on numerical results are demonstrated. Relative to otherwise identical cracks in straight bars, SIFs for cracks in the curved bars considered here are found to differ by up to 8%. With an offshore mooring chain model as a case example, the estimation of SIFs for cracks in a complex residual stress field is furthermore demonstrated using a cubic polynomial stress approximation.

Residual stresses in large offshore mooring chains have been measured for the first time and presented in this article. Two chain links with the same size and material, one only subjected to proof load and no cyclic service loads and the other exposed to service loads as well as the proof load, were selected for the experiment. Residual stresses just below the surface were measured using the hole-drilling technique and the neutron diffraction technique was employed for deeper measurements. The data can be used to investigate residual stress redistribution in the chain links because of material removal due to corrosion and cyclic service loads that the chains are exposed to during their service time. Moreover, the data can be used to validate numerical models for predicting residual stresses. A more detailed interpretation of the data presented in this article is provided in “Experimental and numerical study of mooring chain residual stresses and implications for fatigue life” [1] .

A Hill model-based phenomenological method for muscle activation was used to investigate defectiveness of the palatal muscle tone during sleep for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. Based on the stretch-stress characteristic of muscle activation when the eccentric contraction is considered, a specifically defined phenomenological strain-energy function was used, as well as the Holzapfel-type strain-energy function for the passive part. A continuum mechanical framework, including the stress tensor and elasticity tensor, was obtained, based on the defined strain-energy function. The model parameters were obtained by fitting the constitutive model to experimental test data. Three-dimensional patient-specific geometry was modeled, accounting for the muscle tissue layer and based on the quantitative histology study of the soft palate. Anatomically representative boundary conditions for the finite element calculation were also considered. Palatal muscle activation level (electromyographic data) versus the negative pressure was defined in the simulations, and the patients' activation level was set to be lower than for the healthy people. The simulation results showed that reduced in activation level for the patients causes a less negative closing pressure, and this makes the soft palate more prone to collapse. In addition, if we account for the passive-active transfer displayed as the muscle contraction corresponding to the neurogenic reflex in the soft palate, the collapse is prevented. This numerical representation of the reduced activation for the OSA patients may provide increased understanding of OSA physiology.

The current study presents methods to predict the governing crack initiation site and fatigue crack initiation life of components with surface roughness. The surface topography is measured with white light interferometry and explicitly accounted for in detailed finite element models. The micro-notch stress fields are used in multiaxial and uniaxial crack initiation criteria where the relative stress gradient is included. The numerical predictions are compared with test results for cylindrical aluminum specimens with axi-symmetric surface roughness. Damage parameters based on the average stress fields over a certain distance were found to be highest in the micro-notches where cracks grew to failure. Lifetime predictions using a multiaxial damage criterion with a gradient correction and elastic-plastic stress fields showed good correlation with the experiments. Uniaxial criteria, criteria without gradient correction, and criteria based on linear elastic stress fields were found to be overly conservative. In some specimens, the failure location could not be identified by the proposed damage criterion. This is likely due to the presence of microstructural weaknesses near the micro-notches, leading to shorter initiation lives that cannot be described by geometry alone. It is concluded that resolving the detailed surface topography and accounting for this geometry in a detailed finite element model provide a predictive approach when multiaxial stresses are accounted for, but the importance of microstructure needs further attention. This is a submitted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier Ltd in International Journal of Fatigue, 20 August 2018.

Objective To evaluate the biomechanical properties of the soft palate and velopharynx in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nasal obstruction. Study design Prospective experimental study. Materials and methods Two finite element (FE) models of the soft palate were created in six patients undergoing nasal surgery, one homogeneous model based on CT images, and one layered model based on soft tissue composition. The influence of anatomy on displacement caused by a gravitational load and closing pressure were evaluated in both models. The strains in the transverse and longitudinal direction were obtained for each patient. Results The individual anatomy influences both its structural stiffness and its gravitational displacement. The soft palate width was the sole anatomical parameter correlated to the critical closing pressure, but the maximal displacement due to gravity may have a relationship to closing pressure of possibly an exponential order. The airway occlusion occurred mainly at the lateral attachments of the soft palate. The total transverse strain showed a strong correlation with maximal closing pressure. There was no relationship between the critical closing pressure and the preoperative AHI levels, or the change in AHI after surgery. Conclusion Hyperelastic FE models both in the homogeneous and layered model represent a novel method of evaluating soft tissue biomechanics of the upper airway. The obstruction occurs mainly at the level of the lateral attachments to the pharyngeal wall, and the width of the soft palate is an indicator of the degree of critical closing pressure. A less negative closing pressure corresponds to small total transverse strain. The effect of nasal surgery on OSA is most likely not explained by change in soft palate biomechanics. Level of evidence NA.

The aim of this study was to assess a virtual biomechanics testing approach purely based on microcomputed tomography (microCT or µCT) data, providing non-invasive methods for determining the stiffness and strength of cortical bone. Mouse femurs were µCT scanned prior to three-point-bend tests. Then microCT-based finite element models were generated with spatial variation in bone elastoplastic properties and subject-specific femur geometries. Empirical relationships of density versus Young's moduli and yield stress were used in assigning elastoplastic properties to each voxel. The microCT-based finite element modeling (µFEM) results were employed to investigate the model's accuracy through comparison with experimental tests. The correspondence of elastic stiffness and strength from the µFE analyses and tests was good. The interpretation of the derived data showed a 6.1%, 1.4%, 1.5%, and 1.6% difference between the experimental test result and µFEM output on global stiffness, nominal Young's modulus, nominal yield stress, and yield force, respectively. We conclude that virtual testing outputs could be used to predict global elastic-plastic properties and may reduce the cost, time, and number of test specimens in performing physical experiments.

Nanoindentation test results in the axial direction of mouse femurs were the basis for the current study. Although the majority of the nanoindentation curves showed a reasonable consistency, some curves showed a significantly softer response. Detailed investigation, using focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy, provided that the softer response is due to subsurface cavities such as lacunae. Finite element models were developed to simulate the nanoindentation of mice femur cortical bone samples with and without the incorporation of a single lacuna underneath the bone surface. Based on the material parameters determined for the cavity-free tissue, numerical simulations were run for different cases of cavity size, shape, and location. Spherical cavities with different size were considered at different distances from the surface. The results showed that subsurface cavities can lead to 50% higher indentation compared to an indentation in cavity-free material. Continuing with ellipsoidal cavities with the center located on the load axis, the results showed a nonlinear dependency of ellipsoid shape. Hence, the shape of the cavity is important for the nanoindentation response. The influence of horizontal and vertical offsets of spherical cavities was studied, thereby the results showed that an increasing horizontal offset caused a decreasing influence of the vertical distance from the surface. In perspective, the present study provides information that may help to get deeper knowledge of nanoindentation load-displacement mechanism taking place in samples with subsurface cavities.

Residual stresses in large mooring chains were measured for the first time in this study. Two measurement techniques were employed (neutron diffraction and hole drilling). Elastic-plastic finite element simulation of the proof loading was conducted, and the computed residual stresses were compared to the experimental measurements. Further, the cyclic plasticity of the material was taken into account to investigate residual stress redistribution caused by introduction of corrosion pits and cyclic service loads. A critical damage parameter was employed to estimate fatigue crack initiation life of corroded mooring chains subjected to various service load levels considering the effect of residual stresses. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Rotational culture promotes primary human osteoblasts (hOBs) to form three-dimensional (3D) multicellular spheroids with bone tissue-like structure without any scaffolding material. Cell-based bone models enable us to investigate the effect of different agents on the mechanical strength of bone. Given that low dietary intake of both vitamin D and K is negatively associated with fracture risk, we aimed to assess the effect of these vitamins in this system. Osteospheres of hOBs were generated with menaquinone-4 (MK-4; 10μM) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3; 0.01μM], alone and in combination, or without vitamins. The mechanical properties were tested by nanoindentation using a flat-punch compression method, and the mineralized extracellular bone matrix was characterized by microscopy. The in vitro response of hOBs to MK-4 and 25(OH)D3 was further evaluated in two-dimensional (2D) cultures and in the 3D bone constructs applying gene expression analysis and multiplex immunoassays. Mechanical testing revealed that 25(OH)D3 induced a stiffer and MK-4 a softer or more flexible osteosphere compared with control. Combined vitamin conditions induced the same flexibility as MK-4 alone. Enhanced levels of periostin (p < 0.001) and altered distribution of collagen type I (COL-1) were found in osteospheres supplemented with MK-4. In contrast, 25(OH)D3 reduced COL-1, both at the mRNA and protein levels, increased alkaline phosphatase, and stimulated mineral deposition in the osteospheres. With the two vitamins in combination, enhanced gene expression of periostin and COL-1 was seen, as well as extended osteoid formation into the central region and increased mineral deposition all over the area. Moreover, we observed enhanced levels of osteocalcin in 2D and osteopontin in 3D cultures exposed to 25(OH)D3 alone and combined with MK-4. In conclusion, the two vitamins seem to affect bone mechanical properties differently: vitamin D enhancing stiffness and K2 conveying flexibility to bone. These effects may translate to increased fracture resistance in vivo. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received in original form October 27, 2019; revised form July 6, 2020; accepted July 8, 2020. Accepted manuscript online July 14, 2020. Address correspondence to: Janne E Reseland, Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Dentistry, PO Box 1109 Blindern, N-0317 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: j.e. reseland@odont.uio.no JBMR® Plus (WOA), Vol. 00, No. 00, Month 2020, e10394. DOI: 10.1002/jbm4.10394 © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Finite element modeling applied to analyze experimentally determined hydrogel swelling data provides quantitative description of the hydrogel in the aqueous solutions with well-defined ionic content and environmental parameters. In the present study, we expand this strategy to analysis of swelling of hydrogels over an extended concentration of salt where the Donnan contribution and specific ion effects are dominating at different regimes. Dynamics and equilibrium swelling were determined for acrylamide and cationic acrylamide-based hydrogels by high-resolution interferometry technique for step-wise increase in NaCl and NaBr concentration up to 2 M. Although increased hydrogel swelling volume with increasing salt concentration was the dominant trend for the uncharged hydrogel, the weakly charged cationic hydrogel was observed to shrink for increasing salt concentration up to 0.1 M, followed by swelling at higher salt concentrations. The initial shrinking is due to the ionic equilibration accounted for by a Donnan term. Comparison of the swelling responses at high NaCl and NaBr concentrations between the uncharged and the cationic hydrogel showed similar specific ion effects. This indicates that the ion non-specific Donnan contribution and specific ion effects are additive in the case where they are occurring in well separated ranges of salt concentration. We develop a novel finite element model including both these mechanisms to account for the observed swelling in aqueous salt solution. In particular, a salt-specific, concentration-dependent Flory&ndash, Huggins parameter was introduced for the specific ion effects. This is the first report on finite element modeling of hydrogels including specific ionic effects and underpins improvement of the mechanistic insight of hydrogel swelling that can be used to predict its response to environmental change.

State-of-the-art passive icephobicity relies mainly on static parameters such as surface energy, coating elastic modulus, crack sizes and so on. Low ice adhesion resulting from the dynamic de-icing process, for instance ice detaching modes from substrates, has not yet been explored. In the current study, atomistic modeling and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to identify ice rupture modes as crucial dynamic factors for surface icephobicity. A fish-scale-like icephobic surface prototype enabling low-adhesion sequential rupture of the atomistic interactions at the ice-solid interface was proposed. The novel surface has an intrinsic extended interface rupture pathway, which can lead to a ∼60% reduction in atomistic ice adhesion compared with concurrent ice rupture. This study sheds light on interface mechanical design for surface icephobicity, and could provide solutions for anti-icing, nanoscale tribology and many others. The concept of implementing interfacial rupture modes proposed in this study can also apply to interface design for tailored adhesion mechanics.

Epidemiological studies suggest an increased fracture risk in patients taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for long term. The underlying mechanism, however, has been disputed. By binding to the gastric proton pump, PPIs inhibit gastric acid secretion. We have previously shown that proton pump (H+/K+ATPase beta subunit) KO mice exhibit reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and inferior bone strength compared with WT mice. Patients using PPIs as well as these KO mice exhibit gastric hypoacidity, and subsequently increased serum concentrations of the hormone gastrin. In this study, we wanted to examine whether inhibition of the gastrin/CCK2 receptor influences bone quality in these mice. KO and WT mice were given either the gastrin/CCK2 receptor antagonist netazepide dissolved in polyethylene glycol (PEG) or only PEG for 1year. We found significantly lower bone mineral content and BMD, as well as inferior bone microarchitecture in KO mice compared with WT. Biomechanical properties by three-point bending test also proved inferior in KO mice. KO mice receiving netazepide exhibited significantly higher cortical thickness, cortical area fraction, trabecular thickness and trabecular BMD by micro-CT compared with the control group. Three-point bending test also showed higher Young’s modulus of elasticity in the netazepide KO group compared with control mice. In conclusion, we observed that the gastrin receptor antagonist netazepide slightly improved bone quality in this mouse model, suggesting that hypergastrinemia may contribute to deteriorated bone quality during acid inhibition.

Epidemiological studies suggest increased fracture risk in patients using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). We have previously shown that the H(+) /K(+) ATPase beta subunit knockout (KO) mouse, which is a model of PPI-use, have lower bone mineral density (BMD) and impaired bone quality compared to wild type (WT) mice. Like PPI users, these KO mice display elevated gastric pH and hypergastrinemia, which in turn stimulates gastric histamine release. Previous studies have suggested a negative effect of histamine on bone, thus, we wanted to study whether a histamine 1 receptor (H1R) antagonist could improve bone quality in KO mice. Female KO and WT mice aged 8 weeks received either an H1R antagonist (cetirizine) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) for 6 months. At the end of the study, KO mice displayed elevated plasma histamine levels compared to WT. As demonstrated previously, the KO mice also exhibited lower whole body BMD, reduced mechanical bone strength, and impaired bone quality assessed by μCT. No significant differences, however, were found between the KO groups receiving cetirizine or PEG for any of the measured bone parameters. In vitro gene expression analyses of histamine receptors revealed the presence of H1R and H2R both in osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and H3R in late stage osteoblasts. In conclusion, administration of the H1R antagonist cetirizine in a concentration of 3 mg/kg did not rescue the osteoporotic phenotype in H(+) /K(+) ATPase beta subunit KO mice. It can, however, not be ruled out that histamine may influence bone via other receptors. J. Cell. Biochem. 117: 2089-2096, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Subjected to compressive stresses, soft polymers with stiffness gradients can display various buckling patterns. These compressive stresses can have different origins, like mechanical forces, temperature changes, or, for hydrogel materials, osmotic swelling. Here, we focus on the influence of the transient nature of osmotic swelling on the initiation of buckling in confined layered hydrogel structures. A constitutive model for transient hydrogel swelling is outlined and implemented as a user-subroutine for the commercial finite element software Abaqus. The finite element procedure is benchmarked against linear perturbation analysis results for equilibrium swelling showing excellent correspondence. Based on the finite element results we conclude that the initiation of buckling in a two-layered hydrogel structure is highly affected by transient swelling effects, with instability emerging at lower swelling ratios and later in time with a lower diffusion coefficient. In addition, for hard-on-soft systems the wavelength of the buckling pattern is found to decrease as the diffusivity of the material is reduced for gels with a relatively low stiffness gradient between the substrate and the upper film. This study highlights the difference between equilibrium and transient swelling when it comes to the onset of instability in hydrogels, which is believed to be of importance as a fundamental aspect of swelling as well as providing input to guiding principles in the design of specific hydrogel systems.

This study investigates the low-cycle fatigue behavior of mooring chains high-strength steel grade R4 under different strain amplitudes and strain ratios at room temperature. A fatigue test program has been carried out on small low cycle fatigue specimens cut from large mooring chains. The experimental results characterize the cyclic stress-strain relationship, the mean stress relaxation behavior, and the cyclic plasticity parameters of the material. Strain energy density is correlated with fatigue life through a simple power-law expression and very well represented by BasquinCoffin-Mansion relationship. Further, a non-linear elastic-plastic material model is calibrated to the experimental stress-strain curves and used for the estimation of energy dissipation in the specimens under applied cyclic loads. The predicted fatigue life using the calibrated material parameters demonstrates a close agreement with the experimental fatigue life. Numerical simulations are carried out to analyze local plastic straining and assess crack initiation at the pit site of corroded mooring chains considering the multiaxial stress state. An energy-based approach is employed to estimate the number of cycles needed for a crack to initiate from an existing corrosion pit. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects a large percentage of the population and is increasingly recognized as a major global health problem. One surgical procedure for OSA is to implant polyethylene (PET) material into the soft palate, but its efficacy remains to be discussed. In this study, we provide input to this topic based on numerical simulations. Three 3 dimensional (3D) soft palate finite element models including mouth-close and mouth-open cases were created based on three patient-specific computed tomography (CT) images. A simplified material modeling approach with the Neo-Hookean material model was applied, and nonlinear geometry was accounted for. Young’s modulus for the implant material was obtained from uniaxial tests, and the PET implant pillars were inserted to the 3D soft palate model. With the finite element model, we designed different surgical schemes and investigated their efficacy with respect to avoiding the soft palate collapse. Several pillar schemes were tested, including different placement directions, different placement positions, different settings for the radius and the array parameters of the implant pillars, and different Young’s moduli for the pillars. Based on our simulation results, the longitudinal-direction implant surgery improved the stiffness of the soft palate to a small degree, and implanting in the transverse direction was evaluated to be a good choice for improving the existing surgical scheme. In addition, the Young’s modulus of the polyethylene material implants has an influence on the reinforcement efficacy of the soft palate. © 2017. This is the authors’ accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Collapse of the soft palate in the upper airway contributes to obstructive sleeping apnea (OSA). In this study, we investigate the influence of the adhesion from the tongue on the soft palate global response. This is achieved using a cohesive zone finite element approach. A traction-separation law is determined to describe the adhesion effect from the surface tension of the lining liquid between the soft palate and the tongue. According to pull-off experimental tests of human lining liquid from the oral surface of the soft palate, the corresponding cohesive properties, including the critical normal traction stress and the failure separation displacement, are obtained. The 3D patient-specific soft palate geometry is accounted for, based on one specific patient’s computed tomography (CT) images. The calculation results show that influence of the adhesion from the tongue surface on the global response of the soft palate depends on the length ratio between the cohesive length and the soft palate length. When the length of the cohesive zone is smaller than half of the soft palate length, the adhesion’s influence is negligible. When the adhesion length is larger than 70 percent of soft palate length, the adhesion force contributes to preventing the soft palate from collapsing towards to the pharynx wall, i.e. the closing pressure is more negative than in the no adhesion case. These results may provide useful information to the clinical treatment of OSA patients. © 2018. This is the authors’ accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. Locked until 27.6.2019 due to copyright restrictions. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Surface cracks are the most common defects in solar silicon wafers. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) calculated by the semi-analytical equation derived by Newman and Raju have been compared with results of 3D finite element analysis for a wide range of semi-elliptical surface crack configurations in thin silicon wafer subjected to bending. It has been shown that the geometrical nonlinearity of silicon wafers significantly influences the SIF values. The discrepancy between nonlinear and linear models is 19% for a surface crack with 20 μm depth and 1 mm length, while it is 74% for a surface crack with 160 μm depth and 100 mm length. Furthermore, the results show that for long surface cracks ( a / c ⩽ 0.01 ) finite element models should be used to calculate the SIF and the existing semi-analytical solution is not reliable.

During distraction osteogenesis (bone lengthening) one phase is lengthening and a second phase is consolidation (fixed length, bone maturation). In this second phase of fracture healing, the callus consists of several tissue types. The response of callus bone to mechanical loading can determine the progress of treatment. The mechanical strain distribution could provide additional information of fracture healing in the same way as for bone remodeling. The architecture and tissue properties significantly affect the strength of the whole callus bone. This article focuses on imaging and numerical analysis of bone fracture healing based on input information obtained from micro-CT scans. The objective of this study is to focus on how different stiffness threshold values affect the load carrying tissue architecture and how this further influences the strain distributions within the callus. Finite element simulations are employed to investigate this. A rabbit tibia fracture callus was micro-CT scanned 30 days after osteotomy using an isotropic voxel size of 20 μm. Four computational models were created with different pixel threshold values to cover a wide range of callus tissue properties, with the purpose of finding an optimal threshold value. Optimal means here a finite element model which is computationally feasible and still contains the main load carrying tissue.The values of bone volume/total callus volume (BV/TV), bone area/total callus area (BA/TA), trabecular thickness, structure model index (SMI) were quantified to compare the differences between models. All finite element models were axially loaded to investigate the influence of threshold value on the callus reaction and influence of including the soft tissue. The BV/TV and BA/TA values indicate that for a certain threshold level, finite element models are suitable. However, a too high threshold leads to invalid finite element models. The finite element method (FEM) could be useful tool in understanding of fracture healing process.

Beam-columns in compression are subject to potential buckling. If the axial load is combined with a global bending moment, member instability may occur. One situation where this can occur is for pipelines on the seabed, where thermal strains induce significant compression in the pipeline due to constrained expansion. This may lead to upheaval buckling or snaking. In this condition one should also assess how a weld defect in the buckle zone will evolve. If the crack is located on the compressive side of the cross section, the crack remains closed. If the crack is located on the side where beam bending eventually leads to tension, fracture may develop. This has not been studied sufficiently in the past, and is the topic of the present paper. Here the interesting case of initial compression, with closure of the crack, is followed by a transition to tension and opening of the crack when the transverse displacement increases in the post-buckling regime. Simple cases of tubular beam-columns with surface cracks are investigated for cracks growing in a ductile manner. The simulations are based on shell and linespring finite elements.

Sediment-hosted gas hydrates have profound impacts on global energy sources and climate change. Their mechanical properties play a crucial role in gas recovery and understanding their evolution in nature, however, the deformation mechanisms of gas hydrates have not yet been elucidated owing to the difficulties in experimental measurements. Direct molecular dynamics simulations of the material instability of polycrystalline methane hydrates under mechanical loading have been carried out. The results show an unexpected ductile ultimate strength as a result of crossover from strengthening to weakening in polycrystals. The Hall-Petch type strengthening behavior arises from grain-junction mediated failure mechanism while the inverse Hall-Petch type weakening originates from grain boundary mediated deformation mechanism. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Laboratory tests show that there is a pronounced difference in the volumetric response between uniaxial tension and confined axial compression loading for commercial particle-filled hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and fluoroelastomer (FKM) compounds. In uniaxial tension (UT), a volume increase of 5% and 20% for the HNBR and FKM respectively was present for a hydrostatic stress of less than 6 MPa, in addition, both compounds showed a clear hysteresis loop in the hydrostatic stress - volume ratio space. For confined axial compression (CAC) tests, on the other hand, the materials reached a 6–7% volume change for a hydrostatic stress of 140 MPa, and an elastic behavior was seen. This loading mode dependence of the volumetric response has severe implications for the constitutive representation of the materials. It is demonstrated that existing elastomer models, whereof many assume incompressible volumetric response, are unable to capture the behavior in both loading modes. To gain an increased understanding of the macroscopically obtained results, a tension in situ scanning electron microscopy study was performed. Matrix–particle debonding was observed to occur at the external surface of the materials, rendering a possible explanation for the loading mode dependent volumetric behavior. Finite element simulations of a single-particle model, incorporating a cylinder of matrix material with a spherical particle in its center, showed that the observed debonding can explain the experimental response of the materials in a qualitative manner. © 2017. This is the authors’ accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. LOCKED until 12.1.2019 due to copyright restrictions. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

A common presumption for elastomeric material behaviour is incompressibility, however, the inclusion of filler particles might give rise to matrix-particle decohesion and subsequent volume growth. In this article, the volumetric deformation accompanying uniaxial tension of particle-filled elastomeric materials at low temperatures is studied. An experimental set-up enabling full-field deformation measurements is outlined and novel data are reported on the significant volume growth accompanying uniaxial tension of two HNBR and one FKM compounds at temperatures of −18, 0, and 23 °C. The volumetric deformation was found to increase with reduced temperature for all compounds. To explain the observed dilatation, in situ scanning electron microscopy was used to inspect matrix-particle debonding occurring at the surface of the materials. A new constitutive model, combining the Bergström–Boyce visco-hyperelastic formulation with a Gurson flow potential function is outlined to account for the observed debonding effects in a numerical framework. The proposed model is shown to provide a good correspondence to the experimental data, including the volumetric response, for the tested FKM compound at all temperature levels. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. Locked until 28 June 2019 due to copyright restrictions.

Composite soft materials are used as compounds for determining the effects of mechanical cues on cell behavior and cell encapsulation and for controlling drug release. The appropriate composite soft materials are conventionally prepared by selective deposition of polymers at the surface of an ionic hydrogel. In the present study we address the impact of a mechanically stratified two-layer structure of these materials on their overall mechanical characterization by applying a combination of nanoindentation, confocal microscopy and finite element modelling. We prepare covalent cross-linked hydrogels based on acrylamide (AAM) and including an anionic group, and impregnate them using a multilayer deposition strategy of alternating exposure to cationic chitosan and anionic alginate. The thickness of the chitosan–alginate layer on the hydrogels was determined to be 0.4 ± 0.05 μm for 4 bilayers, and 0.7 ± 0.1 μm for the 8 bilayer deposition procedure employing a fluorescently labelled chitosan and confocal microscopy. The force–indentation data for the AAM gels were highly reproducible, whereas 77% and 50% of the force–indentation data were reproducible following the 4 and 8 bilayer deposition. The main trends in the reproducible force–distance data were found to yield an apparent increased Young's modulus after the deposition. Finite element modelling showed that adaption of a homogeneous Young's modulus for the specimens with deposited layers yields approximately three times too low stiffness compared to the estimate of the mechanical properties of the outer part in the two-layered mechanical model. The thickness of the multilayer region determined by confocal microscopy was used in the model. This study shows that the mechanical layered property needs to be included in the interpretation of the nanoindentation data when there is a significant mechanical contrast.

The numerical simulation of Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valves (BMHVs) has gained strong interest in the last years, as a design and optimisation tool. In this paper, a strong coupling algorithm for the partitioned fluid-structure interaction simulation of a BMHV is presented. The convergence of the coupling iterations between the flow solver and the leaflet motion solver is accelerated by using the Jacobian with the derivatives of the pressure and viscous moments acting on the leaflets with respect to the leaflet accelerations. This Jacobian is numerically calculated from the coupling iterations. An error analysis is done to derive a criterion for the selection of useable coupling iterations. The algorithm is successfully tested for two 3D cases of a BMHV and a comparison is made with existing coupling schemes. It is observed that the developed coupling scheme outperforms these existing schemes in needed coupling iterations per time step and CPU time.

In this article, we present a fluid-structure interaction algorithm accounting for the mutual interaction between two rigid bodies. The algorithm was used to perform a numerical simulation of mitral valve (MV) dynamics during diastolic filling. In numerical simulations of intraventricular flow and MV motion, the asymmetry of the leaflets is often neglected. In this study the MV was rendered as two rigid, asymmetric leaflets. The 2D simulations incorporated the dynamic interaction of blood flow and leaflet motion and an imposed subject-specific, transient left ventricular wall movement obtained from ultrasound recordings. By including the full Jacobian matrix in the algorithm, the speed of the simulation was enhanced by more than 20% compared to using a diagonal Jacobian matrix. Furthermore, our results indicate that important features of the flow field may not be predicted by the use of symmetric leaflets or in the absence of an adequate model for the left atrium.

Nordrum IS, Skallerud B. Smooth muscle in the human mitral valve: extent and implications for dynamic modelling. APMIS 2012. The mitral valve is increasingly been regarded as having dynamic and contractile capabilities, but the presence of muscle in the valve has been investigated to a limited extent. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence, architecture and phenotype of muscle in the human mitral valve. Twelve mitral valves were cut into strips, sectioned for histology, and the cut edges examined by microscope after staining included immunophenotyping. Smooth muscle bundles were present at the atrial side of the leaflets, and distinctly more in the anterior leaflet than in the posterior leaflet. The smooth muscle bundles extended up to two-thirds the distance from the annulus to the rim of the leaflets, and they ran in various directions, but seemingly mainly perpendicular to the annulus. The thickness and density of the bundles seemed to decrease with the distance from the annulus, and also in a radial direction from the centre portion of each leaflets attachment at the annulus towards the rim. Cross striation was not detected. Cardiac muscle in the left atrial wall extended into the annular base of the leaflets in close proximity to the annular border of the smooth muscle bundles in the leaflets. In conclusion, especially the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve seems to have a separate smooth muscle formed as a meshwork of bundles close to the atrial surface.

The stability of an external ring fixator mainly depends on wire tension. Wire fixators should maintain the tension during both wire clamping to the ring and removal of the tensioner device. In the present study the loss in wire tension related to fixator clamping and wire tensioner removal using three different wire fixator designs was studied. The fixators were based on two different cannulated bolts and a washer. Effects from two different pretension levels in combination with three different bolt torque levels upon loss in wire tension were described. Emitted wire vibration frequency was used to assess the corresponding wire tension. Wire tension was determined after each wire fixator tightening and after the removal of the wire tensioner. Increased bolt torque led to a small decrease in tension for both pretension levels. A considerable higher tension loss was measured when removing the wire tensioner. In all cases, the combination of a new cannulated bolt and a washer maintained the highest tension.

Stability of an Ilizarov frame highly depends on maintenance of adequate tension in the wires. Wire tension should be measured accurately in experimental laboratory studies when new types of wire fixators are tested. In this study, 20 wires were tested using two different wire fixators. The wires were sequentially tensioned from 0 to 1275 N in 50 N intervals. For each tension value, corresponding vibration frequency was recorded. We then described the relationship between wire tension and wire vibration frequency in an empirical equation (R2=99.8). Wire vibration frequency can also be described theoretically by the Euler–Bernoulli equation for a thin beam. Theoretical frequencies were calculated and compared with corresponding experimental frequencies. A close agreement was found (95% limits of agreement, ±3.2 Hz). This empirical equation represents a simple tool, applicable when investigating the effect of new wire fixators, pre-tensioning and frame constructions on wire tension.

Biomechanical data and related constitutive modelling of the mitral apparatus served as a basis for finite element analyses to better understand the physiology of mitral valves in health and disease. Human anterior and posterior leaflets and chordae tendinae from an elderly heart showing no disease and a hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathic heart (HOCM) were mechanically tested by means of uniaxial cyclic extension tests under quasi-static conditions. Experimental data for the leaflets and the chordae tendinae showed highly nonlinear mechanical behaviours and the leaflets were anisotropic. The mitral valve from the HOCM heart exhibited a significantly softer behaviour than the valve from the healthy one. A comparison with porcine data was included because many previous mitral modelling studies have been based on porcine data. Some differences in mechanical response were observed. Material parameters for hyperelastic, transversely isotropic constitutive laws were determined. The experimental data and the related model parameters were used in two finite element studies to investigate the effects of the material properties on the mitral valve response during systole. The analyses showed that during systole the mitral valve from the HOCM heart bulged into the left atrium by taking on the shape of a balloon, whereas the anterior leaflet of the healthy valve remained in the left ventricle.

Background: The primary stability of a cementless implant is crucial to ensure long term stability through osseointegration. In the present study we have examined how subject specific finite element models can be used to evaluate the stability of a cementless femoral stem. Methods: Micromotion on the bone–implant interface of a cementless stem was measured experimentally in six human cadaver femurs. Subject specific finite element models were built from computed tomography of the same femurs, and used to simulate the same load scenario used experimentally. Findings: Both experimental measurements and numerical analyses showed a tendency of increased rotational stability for bigger implants. Good correlation was found between measurements and calculated values of axial rotation (R 2 = 0.74, P < 0.001). The finite element models produced interface micromotion of the same magnitude as measured experimentally, with micromotion generally below 40 lm. Bigger femoral stems were found to decrease the micromotion in the experimental measurements. This tendency could not be recognised in the interface micromotion from the finite element models. Interpretation: The finite element models showed limited success in predicting interfacial micromotion, but reproduced a similar pattern of rotational stability for the implants as seen experimentally. Since rotation in retroversion is often the main concern when studying implant stability, subject specific finite element models could be employed for pre-clinical evaluation of implants.

This paper illustrates an efficient contour integral procedure to obtain stress intensity factors in combination of the asymptotic analysis with finite element analysis. Note that this set-up is very general: the material can be anisotropic elastic, and the specimen can be built as a bi-material system, notches of arbitrary opening angle can be analyzed (γ = 0 → crack, γ = 180° → free edge). The purpose of this technical note is to comment on three issues in the notch mechanics: the interpretation of the eigenvalue equation, the definition of stress intensity factors, and the effect of the outer contour location on H-integral evaluations.

In this study, void coalescence with and without a plastic prestrain history is studied using stress-controlled axisymmetric unit cell models. In addition to spherical voids, both oblate and prolate voids are considered. In the case with prestrain history a uniaxial prestrain up to 10% was applied and the material is thereafter subjected to loadings with constant stress triaxiality. It is found that the microscopic position of the maximum axial stress in void ligament can be taken as an indicator for void coalescence. In the beginning of plastic loading the maximum axial stress occurs at the edge close to the void. With the increase of plastic deformation, the position of maximum axial stress shifts from the void edge to cell boundary and coalescence starts when the position appears at the boundary. It is shown that a prestrain history significantly reduces the void coalescence strain. The prestrain effect on void coalescence depends strongly on the initial void shape. Prestrain history induces both strain hardening and void shape change. The effect of prestrain-induced void shape change on coalescence strain is relatively small while the effect of prestrain-induced local hardening is significant.

This paper presents a proposed methodology to account for cyclic plastic response of the thin shell ANDES and line-spring finite elements. A through thickness integration scheme is employed for the shell element and stress resultant plasticity is used for the line-spring element. A simplified contact formulation to account for crack closure in the line-spring element is also presented. Numerical comparisons between the proposed models and detailed 3D analyses (pipes) are carried out and presented herein. A comparison between the present implementation and large scale experiment of a surface cracked pipe subjected to large cyclic plastic strains is also presented. The purpose of the presented implementation is to account for cyclic loading in pipeline technology where significant amount of plasticity in the loading cycles occurs.

This study focuses on the stress intensity factors for free edges in multi-layered structural components. The effects of elastic constants of various material combinations on the weak singularity at free edges are analyzed. Using the H-integral approach, the effects of elastic mismatch parameters, the bond area and the thickness of the thin metal layer on the stress intensity factor are quantified and the results are compared with detailed finite element solutions. A good agreement between numerical predictions obtained from the H-integral and the detailed FE results is achieved, showing the applicability of this approach. Similar to a crack problem, the singular elastic field dominates in an annular region adjacent to the notch tip. The relationship between the valid range of the K-dominated field and the thin-film thickness is then demonstrated. Furthermore, the competition of crack initiation between the free edge interface (180° opening angle) and a 90° notch interface in a generic specimen is investigated, in order to find out which is the prevailing failure mode. Comparison between isotropic Si and anisotropic Si substrate is also illustrated. Anisotropy of the Si substrate has a significant influence on the stress intensity factor when combined with an Au or Al metal layer but not with a Cu layer. Additionally, standardized numerical formulae of the dimensionless stress intensity factor have been derived to guide the engineering application.

Morsellised cortico-cancellous bone (MCB) is often used in revision surgery for filling skeletal defects. The MCB porosity is found to influence the degree of bone ingrowth. Thus expressing a material model in terms of porosity may be attractive from a clinical point of view. We analysed the moisture content and performed constrained compression testing of human impacted and unimpacted MCB, in order to determine material parameters for the common constitutive soil model: modified cam clay. The model seemed to be suitable for the unimpacted pellets with a logarithmic bulk modulus kappa=0.059+/-0.0019 and a logarithmic hardening constant lambda=0.36+/-0.014. This model, relating the specific volume (and porosity) to the logarithm of stress, may be suited to find the best compromise of stiffness and porosity for MCB.

An incompressible transversely isotropic hyperelastic material for solid finite element analysis of a porcine mitral valve response is described. The material model implementation is checked in single element tests and compared with a membrane implementation in an out-of-plane loading test to study how the layered structures modify the stress response for a simple geometry. Three different collagen layer arrangements are used in finite element analysis of the mitral valve. When the leaflets are arranged in two layers with the collagen on the ventricular side, the stress in the fibre direction through the thickness in the central part of the anterior leaflet is homogenized and the peak stress is reduced. A simulation using membrane elements is also carried out for comparison with the solid finite element results. Compared to echocardiographic measurements, the finite element models bulge too much in the left atrium. This may be due to evidence of active muscle fibres in some parts of the anterior leaflet, whereas our constitutive modelling is based on passive material.