236 research outputs found
The digital fabrication of ceramics by 3D powder printing
No full textDavid Huson and colleagues at the Centre for Fine Print Research in the School of Creative Arts at the University of the West of England have recently successfully completed a three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project into the use of Digital Fabrication techniques in the area of Art/Craft ceramics.The research project has developed a methodology for the 3D printing of ceramics by replacing the proprietary powder in a commercially available powder/binder 3D printer system with a specially formulated ceramic powder. This process has been shown to be a viable procedure for translating 3D computer generated models in to physical ceramic forms that can then be fired and further processed.This paper will detail the progress of the research throughout the project and use examples from current artwork projects to illustrate how these novel techniques have been developed and refined to allow artists and crafts persons to investigate and implement ideas and concepts that were unattainable by conventional forming methods. Peer reviewed paper to be given at Digital Fabrication Conference, September 19 - September 23 2010
Comparing terracotta and earthenware for multiple functionalities in microbial fuel cells
No full textThe properties of earthenware and terracotta were investigated in terms of structural integrity and ion conductivity, in two microbial fuel cell (MFC) designs. Parameters such as wall thickness (4, 8, 18 mm), porosity and cathode hydration were analysed. During the early stages of operation (2 weeks), the more porous earthenware lost anolyte quickly and was unstable between feeding compared to terracotta. Three weeks later MFCs of all thicknesses were more stable and could sustain longer periods of power production without maintenance. In all cases, the denser terracotta produced higher open circuit voltage; however, earthenware the more porous and less iron-rich of the two, proved to be the better material for power production, to the extent that the thickest wall (18 mm) MFC produced 15 % higher power than the thinnest wall (4 mm) terracotta. After 6 weeks of operation, the influence of wall thickness was less exaggerated and power output was comparable between the 4 and 8 mm ceramic membranes. Cylindrical earthenware MFCs produced significantly higher current (75 %) and power (33 %) than terracotta MFCs. A continuous dripping mode of cathode hydration produced threefold higher power than when MFCs were submerged in water, perhaps because of a short-circuiting effect through the material. This shows a significant improvement in terms of biosystems engineering, since a previously high-maintenance half-cell, is now shown to be virtually self-sufficient.©Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Further developments in the 3D printing of self-glazing single fire ceramic materials
No full textDavid Huson and Katie Vaughan at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England are continuing their research into the 3D printing of ceramic bodies by investigating the possibilities of using techniques developed by the ancient Egyptians to produce a 3D printed ceramic body that will glaze itself during a single firing process. The Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England has funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a three year research project entitled “Can Egyptian Paste Techniques (Faience) be used for 3D printed, Solid Free-form Fabrication of Ceramics?” Now in the second year of the project this research aims to create a set of functional ceramic materials through a process based upon historic Egyptian Faience techniques, which will allow ceramic artists, designers and craftspeople to 3D print actual objects in a familiar material that can be glazed and vitrified in one firing; a breakthrough for ceramic design and manufacture. The two methods used in ancient Egypt to enable self-glazing in one firing are efflorescence glazing and cementation glazing: In efflorescence glazing soluble salts are introduced in to the body mix, after forming and during the drying stage these salts migrate to the surface of the formed article and during firing fuse and react with the body materials to form a glaze on the surface, by introducing colouring oxides such as cobalt, iron, manganese or copper into the mix a range of coloured glazes can be produced. In cementation glazing the article that has been formed is surrounded in a saggar (a refractory box used to support and protect a ceramic object during firing) by a powder consisting of a glaze precursor, during the firing process a reaction takes place between the ceramic article and the glaze precursor powder and a glaze is formed on to the surface of the ceramic article, the firing temperature is below the melting temperature of the glazing powder so that the glazed ceramic article can be removed from the powder bed in which it was fired. This is a new area of research to create a functional 3D printed real ceramic material through a process based upon historic Egyptian Faience techniques, which will allow ceramic artists, designers and craftspeople to 3D print objects in a familiar material that can be glazed and vitrified in one low temperature energy efficient firing process, a breakthrough for ceramic design and manufacture which will be applicable to the arts and wider industries
Public-Private Partnerships: Lessons Learned from a Partnership: Consolidated Contractors Company and the Morganti Group Inc. (Ccc/Morganti), Al-Balqa’ Applied University (Bau)/Al-Huson University College (Ahuc) and the Usaid Jordan Economic Development Program
No full textThis paper describes a Public-Private Partnership that brings together: Al-Balqa’ Applied University/Al-Huson University College (AHUC); Consolidated Contractors Company and the Morganti Group Inc. (CCC/MORGANTI); Al-Huson Career Development Center (CDC); and USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ). The Partnership enhances CCC/MORGANTI with its corporate responsibility initiative in Jordan as well as addressing CCC/MORGANTI’s labor force needs from Jordan and in the MENA Region. The lessons learned from the process of developing this partnership may be applied to other potential and emerging partnerships in other sectors. The paper draws on principles and best Education and Training Public/Private Partnerships Improved Workforce Demand-Driven Skills in Selected Sectors USAID Jordan Economic Development Program 5 practices of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), includes specific references to recent publications, and includes step-by-step procedures needed to form effective partnerships
3D printed self-glazing ceramics: Process and materials development
No full textDavid Huson and Katie Vaughan and colleagues at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England are continuing their research into the 3D printing of ceramic bodies by investigating the possibilities of using techniques developed by the ancient Egyptians to produce a 3D printed ceramic body that will glaze itself during a single firing process. The Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England has funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a three year research project entitled "Can Egyptian Paste Techniques (Faience) be used for 3D printed, Solid Free-form Fabrication of Ceramics?" Now in the final year of the project this research aims to create a set of functional ceramic materials through a process based upon historic Egyptian Faience techniques, which will allow ceramic artists, designers and craftspeople to 3D print actual objects in a material that can be glazed and vitrified in one firing; a breakthrough for ceramic design and manufacture. The two methods used in ancient Egypt to enable self-glazing in one firing are efflorescence glazing and cementation glazing: In efflorescence glazing soluble salts are introduced in to the body mix, after forming and during the drying stage these salts migrate to the surface of the formed article and during firing fuse and react with the body materials to form a glaze on the surface, by introducing colouring oxides such as cobalt, iron, manganese or copper into the mix a range of coloured glazes can be produced. In cementation glazing the article that has been formed is surrounded in a saggar (a refractory box used to support and protect a ceramic object during firing) by a powder consisting of a glaze precursor, during the firing process a reaction takes place between the ceramic article and the glaze precursor powder and a glaze is formed on to the surface of the ceramic article, the firing temperature is below the melting temperature of the glazing powder so that the glazed ceramic article can be removed from the powder bed in which it was fired. This paper will describe the development of a 3D printable ceramic body with a glaze precursor powder for the cementation glazing process. (the initial development work was described in a paper presented at DF2014) The process parameters, formulations and 3D printing settings required will be detailed and images and examples of artefacts made by this process will be included. This is a new area of research to create a functional 3D printed real ceramic material through a process based upon historic Egyptian Faience techniques, which will allow ceramic artists and designers to 3D print objects in a material that can be glazed and vitrified in one low temperature energy efficient firing process, a potential breakthrough for ceramic design and manufacture which will be applicable to the arts and wider industries
Physical patient simulators for surgical training: a review
No full textThe purpose of this article is to review the fabrication process of physical patient simulators for surgical training and describes current research areas.
Medical image acquisition and analysis are tools to reproduce human anatomy in 3D models. Data acquisition techniques include CT scans, MRI, and ultrasound. Postprocessing of this data is necessary to obtain a file for 3D printing.
Two available fabrication methods are direct 3D printing of an organ model and 3D printing a mould to cast an organ replica. Direct 3D printing presents several limitations. Therefore, casting techniques with silicones and hydrogels are better suited for the fabrication of softer tissue models.
Surgeons qualitatively evaluate the simulators and their ability to train students. It is also possible to make a quantitative evaluation to compare the properties of the simulators to the physical properties of organs. Different methods exist to measure the physical properties of soft tissues, mainly to find the Young modulus of the soft tissue. The tests can be in vivo, in situ or in vitro. Researchers perform tests on human tissues or animal tissues.
The use of surgical simulators has shown satisfactory results in surgical training. Nonetheless, limitations remain, simulators lack realism and are not available for some pathologies. Future work in this area could be of benefit to surgical training.This paper was published by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology. Site as:
Shao, M., C. Parraman and D. Huson; (2020): Physical Patient Simulators for Surgical Training: A Review. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2020, London Imaging Meeting 2020: Future Colour Imaging, pp. 124-128(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2352/issn.2694-118X.2020.LIM-0
Three-dimensional printed ceramics for concept modelling and bespoke production
No full textMany ceramic manufacturing companies use 3D CAD software and 3D printing technologies to produce design concept models for evaluation, although the value to the design process is limited due to the type of materials that can be printed, conventional modelling and processing methods still need to be used to achieve a design concept model in a real material.A solution is desired that delivers a prototype that looks and feels like the final product and which can be fully tested for functionality glaze and decoration.In collaboration with Denby Pottery as the industrial partner this research project has refined and enhanced the 3D ceramic printing process already developed at the University of the West of England, and has enabled the production of concept models of new design ideas in a real ceramic material, printed directly from CAD data, fired, glazed and decorated
Altered brain activity and behaviour in a novel mouse model for Dravet epilepsy syndrome
No full textTrabajo fin de máster presentado en la Universidad de Amsterdam, programa de máster Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Departamento de Regeneración y Terapia Celular.--Calificación: SobresalienteDravet syndrome (DS) is a severe and rare form of epilepsy that is mainly caused by a mutation in the SCNA1 gene. This gene encodes for the voltage-gated sodium channel alpha 1 subunit, that is expressed in interneurons in the brain where it plays a crucial role in providing an inhibitory balance. Despite the wide repertoire of anti-epileptic drugs that are available, DS patients remain highly resistant to the current pharmacological therapies. Cell-based therapies that use precursor interneuron grafts have been proposed as a promising novel approach. To investigate the efficacy a novel mouse model is needed that has a high survival rate and mimics the epileptic and cognitive symptoms of DS. Recently we obtained a novel mouse model that uses a mixed genetic background. However, this model has not been characterized yet. Therefore, in this project the cognitive and behavioural effects of this model have been assessed using a battery of behavioural tests related to locomotor activity, anxiety, sociability, and memory and learning. In addition, brain activity and seizure susceptibility were assessed using EEG. Mutant mice showed altered locomotor activity, reduced sociability, and increased anxiety-related behaviour compared to wildtype mice. In addition, contextual fear memory was impaired in mutant mice. The EEG results showed clear seizure susceptibility and altered neural oscillations during periods of inactivity. In conclusion, we showed that the current mouse model mimics many of the behavioural and brain-related symptoms of DS and thus it could be a useful tool for studying the effects of cell-based therapies
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Quantitative analysis of the deformational history and timing of the Sierra Madera impact structure, West Texas
No full textThe Sierra Madera impact structure is a 12.9 km diameter, well-eroded remnant of a complex impact crater located in West Texas. The crater was last studied in the early 1970's and is an excellent site for deformation and timing studies using modern research techniques. In this dissertation, Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Sierra Madera structure including previous geologic research regarding the crater, stratigraphy and structure/crater formation. Chapter 2 lists deformational features documented within the central uplift of the crater and assigns temperature and shock pressure values to the conditions of crater formation. Chapter 3 details the use of X-ray diffraction as a possible method to determine shocked rocks from terrestrially deformed rocks. Chapter 4 documents the use of the fission-track method to assign a radiometric age to the impact event. Chapter 5 is a field guide for the impact crater
The multiple fibration problem for Seifert 3-orbifolds
No full text51 pages, 19 figuresWe conclude the multiple fibration problem for closed orientable Seifert three-orbifolds, namely the determination of all the inequivalent fibrations that such an orbifold may admit. We treat here geometric orbifolds with geometries and and bad orbifolds (hence non-geometric), since the only other geometry for which the multiple fibration phenomenon occurs, namely , has been treated before by the second and third author. For the geometry we recover, by direct and geometric arguments, the computer-assisted results obtained by Conway, Delgado-Friedrichs, Huson and Thurston
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