Transcriptional profiling of mESC-derived tendon and fibrocartilage cell fate switch

The transcriptional regulators underlying induction and differentiation of dense connective tissues such as tendon and related fibrocartilaginous tissues (meniscus and annulus fibrosus) remain largely unknown. Using an iterative approach informed by developmental cues and single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we establish directed differentiation models to generate tendon and fibrocartilage cells from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) by activation of TGFβ and hedgehog pathways, achieving 90% induction efficiency. Transcriptional signatures of the mESC-derived cells recapitulate embryonic tendon and fibrocartilage signatures from the mouse tail. scRNA-seq further identify retinoic acid signaling as a critical regulator of cell fate switch between TGFβ-induced tendon and fibrocartilage lineages. Trajectory analysis by RNA sequencing define transcriptional modules underlying tendon and fibrocartilage fate induction and identify molecules associated with lineage-specific differentiation. Finally, we successfully generate 3-dimensional engineered tissues using these differentiation protocols and show activation of mechanotransduction markers with dynamic tensile loading. These findings provide a serum-free approach to generate tendon and fibrocartilage cells and tissues at high efficiency for modeling development and disease.

The effect of Nb on the high strain rate hydrogen embrittlement of Q&P steel

Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P) steels are, due to their excellent combination of strength and ductility, seen as good candidates for the third generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS). Although the TRIP effect is beneficial for the overall mechanical behaviour of these steels it potentially can have detrimental effects when strained in a hydrogenenriched environment. The solubility of hydrogen is high in austenite but low in high carbon martensite. Martensite is even in the absence of hydrogen already a possible damage initiation spot. The effect of hydrogen under static and dynamic tensile loading was evaluated in a Q&P and a Nb micro-alloyed Q&P steel. Experiments were carried out under a strain rate ranging from 0.03 s-1 till 500 s-1 and correlated with the hydrogen uptake characterised via thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The presence of Nb resulted in a 25% increase in the hydrogen uptake capacity. A higher susceptibility to hydrogen was observed in the Nb steel partially due to the high hydrogen fraction, but also because of the larger fraction of low stability austenite. However, when tested under dynamic conditions the hydrogen susceptibility is minor and even improved in the micro-alloyed Q&P steel compared to the standard Q&P steel.

Modeling hyperviscoelastic behavior of elastomeric materials (HDPE/POE blend) at different dynamic biaxial and uniaxial tensile strain rates by a new dynamic tensile-loading mechanism

This article presents a new model developed to investigate hyperviscoelastic behavior of elastomeric materials/polyolefin elastomers (HDPE/POE blend) under dynamic biaxial and uniaxial tensile loading. Various strain energy functions (SEF) have been used in this model, and their capability to predict hyperelastic behavior of the aforementioned materials was validated by experimental data. In the experimental part, a new dynamic tensile-loading mechanism was designed and developed to be mounted on a drop-weight impact-testing machine. As a novelty, this mechanism has the ability to perform either uniaxial or biaxial dynamic tensile tests for any type of material, especially for investigating the hyperviscoelastic behavior of materials like elastomers at various strain rates. In addition, a new hyperviscoelastic model has been developed for elastomeric material, which can predict the behavior of the material well at different strain rates. By increasing the strain rate in the dynamic biaxial and uniaxial loading, Pucci–Saccomandi and Yeoh SEF predicted the dynamic behavior of material well due to its lower root mean square error. In fact, in this case, these functions are more capable than Mooney–Rivlin, Neo-Hookean, and polynomial SEF in predicting the effect of the strain rates. In addition, the results show that Yeoh SEF performs much better than the other SEFs in predicting the material behavior in cases of dynamic biaxial and uniaxial tensile strain. The results also indicated that the newly designed mechanism was capable of performing dynamic tensile loading and extracting its accurate results and could reduce the cost of testing compared to other methods.

Dynamic crack propagation from a circular defect in a unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite

A single-ply unidirectional IM7/8552 carbon fiber reinforced plastic composite with artificially introduced circular defects is subjected to dynamic tensile loading using a modified Kolsky tension bar. A high-speed X-ray phase contrast imaging method is integrated with the Kolsky bar setup to record the crack initiation from the defects and subsequent propagation in the material in real time during the tensile loading. The tensile loading was applied either in longitudinal (0° to fibers) or transverse (90° to fibers) direction of the specimens. Shear failure of the matrix and axial splitting along the loading/fiber direction were observed in longitudinal specimens to initiate from the edge of the artificial circular defects. Debonding of fiber and matrix was observed in transverse specimens, which initiated from the top and bottom edge of the hole. The dynamic tensile loading history during the crack propagation was recorded using a piezoelectric load cell and synchronized with the observed damage and failure processes.

Inertial effect on concrete-like materials under dynamic direct tension

The inertial effect on the dynamic strength enhancement of concrete-like materials has been widely concerned and its influence on the dynamic tensile strength is particularly controversial, causing great disturbance to dynamic measurement. Therefore, both the experimental and the numerical analyses on the tubular specimens of concrete-like materials are conducted to further investigate the degree of inertial effect under dynamic direct tension. The inertial effect is one of the structural effects, and therefore the tubular specimens with different inner diameters are employed to demonstrate the different influences of inertial effect on the dynamic tensile strength of concrete-like materials. The experimental and numerical results indicate that the inertial effect has some influence on dynamic tensile strength, which increases with strain rate. In addition, the surface area of concrete-like materials will be greatly affected by inertial effect under dynamic tensile loading.