Experimental study on the mechanical properties of biological hydrogels of different concentrations

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-695
Author(s):  
Khurshid Alam ◽  
Anwarul Hasan ◽  
Muhammad Iqbal ◽  
Jamal Umer ◽  
Sujan Piya

BACKGROUND: Biological hydrogels provide a conducive three-dimensional extracellular matrix environment for encapsulating and cultivating living cells. Microenvironmental modulus of hydrogels dictates several characteristics of cell functions such as proliferation, adhesion, self-renewal, differentiation, migration, cell morphology and fate. Precise measurement of the mechanical properties of gels is necessary for investigating cellular mechanobiology in a variety of applications in tissue engineering. Elastic properties of gels are strongly influenced by the amount of crosslinking density. OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of the present study was to determine the elastic modulus of two types of well-known biological hydrogels: Agarose and Gelatin Methacryloyl. METHODS: Mechanical properties such as Young’s modulus, fracture stress and failure strain of the prescribed gels with a wide range of concentrations were determined using tension and compression tests. RESULTS: The elastic modulus, failure stress and strain were found to be strongly influenced when the amount of concentration in the hydrogels was changed. The elastic modulus for a lower level of concentration, not considered in this study, was also predicted using statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Closed matching of the mechanical properties of the gels revealed that the bulk tension and compression tests could be confidently used for assessing mechanical properties of delicate biological hydrogels.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2950
Author(s):  
Hongwei Song ◽  
Xinle Li

The most active research area is nanotechnology in cementitious composites, which has a wide range of applications and has achieved popularity over the last three decades. Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as possible materials to be used in the field of civil engineering. Previous research has concentrated on evaluating the effect of different NPs in cementitious materials to alter material characteristics. In order to provide a broad understanding of how nanomaterials (NMs) can be used, this paper critically evaluates previous research on the influence of rheology, mechanical properties, durability, 3D printing, and microstructural performance on cementitious materials. The flow properties of fresh cementitious composites can be measured using rheology and slump. Mechanical properties such as compressive, flexural, and split tensile strength reveal hardened properties. The necessary tests for determining a NM’s durability in concrete are shrinkage, pore structure and porosity, and permeability. The advent of modern 3D printing technologies is suitable for structural printing, such as contour crafting and binder jetting. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has opened up new avenues for the building and construction industry to become more digital. Regardless of the material science, a range of problems must be tackled, including developing smart cementitious composites suitable for 3D structural printing. According to the scanning electron microscopy results, the addition of NMs to cementitious materials results in a denser and improved microstructure with more hydration products. This paper provides valuable information and details about the rheology, mechanical properties, durability, 3D printing, and microstructural performance of cementitious materials with NMs and encourages further research.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid Agureev ◽  
Valeriy Kostikov ◽  
Zhanna Eremeeva ◽  
Svetlana Savushkina ◽  
Boris Ivanov ◽  
...  

The article presents the study of alumina nanoparticles’ (nanofibers) concentration effect on the strength properties of pure nickel. The samples were obtained by spark plasma sintering of previously mechanically activated metal powders. The dependence of the grain size and the relative density of compacts on the number of nanofibers was investigated. It was found that with an increase in the concentration of nanofibers, the average size of the matrix particles decreased. The effects of the nanoparticle concentration (0.01–0.1 wt.%) on the elastic modulus and tensile strength were determined for materials at 25 °C, 400 °C, and 750 °C. It was shown that with an increase in the concentration of nanofibers, a 10–40% increase in the elastic modulus and ultimate tensile strength occurred. A comparison of the mechanical properties of nickel in a wide range of temperatures, obtained in this work with materials made by various technologies, is carried out. A description of nanofibers’ mechanisms of influence on the structure and mechanical properties of nickel is given. The possible impact of impurity phases on the properties of nickel is estimated. The tendency of changes in the mechanical properties of nickel, depending on the concentration of nanofibers, is shown.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saman Naghieh ◽  
M. Sarker ◽  
Mohammad Karamooz-Ravari ◽  
Adam McInnes ◽  
Xiongbiao Chen

Three-dimensional (3D) bioplotting has been widely used to print hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. One issue involved in 3D bioplotting is to achieve the scaffold structure with the desired mechanical properties. To overcome this issue, various numerical methods have been developed to predict the mechanical properties of scaffolds, but limited by the imperfect representation of one key feature of scaffolds fabricated by 3D bioplotting, i.e., the penetration or fusion of strands in one layer into the previous layer. This paper presents our study on the development of a novel numerical model to predict the elastic modulus (one important index of mechanical properties) of 3D bioplotted scaffolds considering the aforementioned strand penetration. For this, the finite element method was used for the model development, while medium-viscosity alginate was selected for scaffold fabrication by the 3D bioplotting technique. The elastic modulus of the bioplotted scaffolds was characterized using mechanical testing and results were compared with those predicted from the developed model, demonstrating a strong congruity between them. Once validated, the developed model was also used to investigate the effect of other geometrical features on the mechanical behavior of bioplotted scaffolds. Our results show that the penetration, pore size, and number of printed layers have significant effects on the elastic modulus of bioplotted scaffolds; and also suggest that the developed model can be used as a powerful tool to modulate the mechanical behavior of bioplotted scaffolds.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
pp. 3540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdows Afghah ◽  
Caner Dikyol ◽  
Mine Altunbek ◽  
Bahattin Koc

Melt electrospinning writing has been emerged as a promising technique in the field of tissue engineering, with the capability of fabricating controllable and highly ordered complex three-dimensional geometries from a wide range of polymers. This three-dimensional (3D) printing method can be used to fabricate scaffolds biomimicking extracellular matrix of replaced tissue with the required mechanical properties. However, controlled and homogeneous cell attachment on melt electrospun fibers is a challenge. The combination of melt electrospinning writing with other tissue engineering approaches, called hybrid biomanufacturing, has introduced new perspectives and increased its potential applications in tissue engineering. In this review, principles and key parameters, challenges, and opportunities of melt electrospinning writing, and particularly, recent approaches and materials in this field are introduced. Subsequently, hybrid biomanufacturing strategies are presented for improved biological and mechanical properties of the manufactured porous structures. An overview of the possible hybrid setups and applications, future perspective of hybrid processes, guidelines, and opportunities in different areas of tissue/organ engineering are also highlighted.


Author(s):  
Vikas Srivastava ◽  
Lallit Anand

In this paper, a brief summary of some of our recent work [1, 2] is presented, with the goal of developing an engineering science-based process-simulation capability for micro-hot-embossing of amorphous polymers. To achieve this goal: (i) a three-dimensional thermo-mechanically-coupled large deformation constitutive theory has been developed to model the temperature and rate-dependent elastic-viscoplastic response of amorphous polymers; (ii) the material parameters in the theory were calibrated by using new experimental data from a suite of simple compression tests on Zeonex-690R (cyclo-olefin polymer), that covers a wide range of temperatures and strain rates; (iii) the constitutive model was implemented in the finite element program ABAQUS/Explicit; and (iv) the predictive capability of the numerical simulation procedures were validated by comparing results from the simulation of a representative micro-hot-embossing process against corresponding results from a physical experiment.


1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2653-2659 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M. Pharr ◽  
S.V. Courington ◽  
J. Wadsworth ◽  
T.G. Nieh

The mechanical properties of nickel beryllide, NiBe, have been investigated in the temperature range 20–820 °C. The room temperature properties were studied using tension, bending, and compression tests, while the elevated temperature properties were characterized in compression only. NiBe exhibits some ductility at room temperature; the strains to failure in tension and compression are 1.3% and 13%, respectively. Fracture is controlled primarily by the cohesive strength of grain boundaries. At high temperatures, NiBe is readily deformable—strains in excess of 30% can be achieved at temperatures as low as 400 °C. Strain hardening rates are high, and the flow stress decreases monotonically with temperature. The high temperature strength of NiBe is as good or better than that of NiAl, but not quite as good as CoAl.


2008 ◽  
Vol 589 ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
Gábor Lengyel ◽  
Béla Palotás

The mechanical properties of temper-grade steels can be modified in a wide range by heat treatment. The principle of heat treatment lies in the good hardenability, so when such steels are welded it is very likely that the heat affected zone is hardened. Considering the fact that in the case of design simplifications it may be needed to weld temper-grade steels, as well therefore it is of crucial importance to eliminate cold cracking. There are many methods available to determine preheat temperature. The applicability of methods for determination of preheat temperature was checked by experimental welding for both two and three dimensional heat conduction. According to our experience the different methods cannot be applied in general namely they are valid only under certain conditions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 674 ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kula ◽  
Ludwik Blaz ◽  
Makoto Sugamata

Rapid solidification (RS) combined with following mechanical consolidation of RS powders is considered as a valuable commercial method for the production of a wide range of metallic materials having fine-grained structures. Reported research results for various alloys demonstrate better compositional homogeneity, smaller grain size and relatively fine precipitates distributed homogenously in RS alloys than that for the materials produced by conventional metallurgical processing. The effect of rapid solidification on the microstructure and mechanical properties of selected Al-Fe-Ni-Mg alloys have been investigated. The basic item of the research work was obtaining aluminum PM materials strengthened by highly-dispersed transition metal compounds and aluminum-magnesium solid solution. Rapid solidification (RS) of Al-4Fe-4Ni and Al-4Fe-4Ni-5Mg alloys was performed by means of gas atomizing of the molten alloy and the spray deposition on the rotating water-cooled copper roll. Using typical powder metallurgy (PM) methods, i.e. cold pressing, vacuum degassing and hot extrusion, the RS-flakes were consolidated to the bulk PMmaterials. For comparison purposes, the conventionally cast and hot extruded Al-4Fe-4Ni and Al-4Fe-4Ni-5Mg alloys were studied as well. Mechanical properties of as-extruded materials were examined by compression tests performed at 293 K – 873 K. It was found that relatively high strength of as-extruded PM materials was accompanied by high ductility of samples deformed by hot compression test. Structural observations confirmed beneficial influence of rapid solidification on effective refining of intermetallic compounds, although some inhomogeneity of fine precipitates distribution was observed. Nevertheless, it was considered that an effective increase of the microhardness and strength of tested RS materials mostly result from achieved dispersion of structural components and can be intensified by solid solution hardening due to Mg-addition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Gouripriya ◽  
Parag Tandaiya

Porous bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) exhibit an excellent combination of superior mechanical properties such as high strength, high resilience, large malleability, and energy absorption capacity. However, a mechanistic understanding of their response under diverse states of stress encountered in practical load-bearing applications is lacking in the literature. In this work, this gap is addressed by performing three-dimensional finite element simulations of porous BMGs subjected to a wide range of tensile and compressive states of stress. A unit cell approach is adopted to investigate the mechanical behavior of a porous BMG having 3% porosity. A parametric study of the effect of stress triaxialities T = 0, ±1/3, ±1, ±2, ±3, and ±∞, which correspond to stress states ranging from pure deviatoric stress to pure hydrostatic stress under tension and compression, is conducted. Apart from the influence of T, the effects of friction parameter, strain-softening parameter and Poisson’s ratio on the mechanics of deformation of porous BMGs are also elucidated. The results are discussed in terms of the simulated stress-strain curves, pore volume fraction evolution, strain to failure, and development of plastic deformation near the pore. The present results have important implications for the design of porous BMG structures.


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