1,720,962 research outputs found

    Investigation on the functionality of thermoresponsive origami structures

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    Additive manufacturing (AM) has recently been introduced as a reliable technique for the fabrication of highly complex geometries that were not possible before. Due to the flexibility in the organization of material properties such as responsive elements in space, AM is now a capable technology for the production of smart structures that can transform their geometry, for example, from a compact state to a deployed configuration. Among others, fused deposition modeling (FDM) can reliably be used to manufacture polymeric constructs with high resolution. Polylactide (PLA), the most popular polymer in FDM printing is a shape-memory polymer. Therefore, the manufacturing of shape-transforming constructs can be simplified to the construction of foldable products that can be programmed simply by applying mechanical forces. Origami can then be used as a simple platform in which the shape-transforming of a programmed construct is via the folding of material through the thinner sections (hinges). Herein, PLA and FDM are used to fabricate foldable structures. The effects of different parameters namely total thickness, layer height, nozzle temperature, and activation temperature on the shape recovery of the manually programmed origami structures are then investigated

    Multi-material 3D printed mechanical metamaterials: Rational design of elastic properties through spatial distribution of hard and soft phases

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    Up until recently, the rational design of mechanical metamaterials has usually involved devising geometrical arrangements of micro-architectures that deliver unusual properties on the macro-scale. A less explored route to rational design is spatially distributing materials with different properties within lattice structures to achieve the desired mechanical properties. Here, we used computational models and advanced multi-material 3D printing techniques to rationally design and additively manufacture multi-material cellular solids for which the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio could be independently tailored in different (anisotropic) directions. The random assignment of a hard phase to originally soft cellular structures with an auxetic, zero Poisson's ratio, and conventional designs allowed us to cover broad regions of the elastic modulus-Poisson's ratio plane. Patterned designs of the hard phase were also used and were found to be effective in the independent tuning of the elastic properties. Close inspection of the strain distributions associated with the different types of material distributions suggests that locally deflected patterns of deformation flow and strain localizations are the main underlying mechanisms driving the above-mentioned adjustments in the mechanical properties.Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic

    Geometry does matter<sup>2</sup>

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    Nature is full of materials that exhibit astonishing properties that are not available in engineering materials. The study of the underlying structure of such materials has revealed that geometry plays an important role in achieving such properties. Unusual physical and mechanical properties such as structural coloring in butterfly wings and shock absorption in woodpecker skull are examples of how geometry could be used for functionalization of materials. At the same time, recent advancements in (additive) manufacturing techniques have enabled us to fabricate engineering materials whose ultrastructure is geometrically very complex. It is therefore now possible to design engineering materials with unusual properties. In this dissertation, two types of geometrical designs are used for development of mechanical metamaterials with unusual properties. That includes 1. Cellular structures working on the basis of mechanical instability, and 2. Origami-based designs. The dissertation has been organized in two parts each covering one of the above-mentioned design types...Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic

    Crumpling-based soft metamaterials: The effects of sheet pore size and porosity

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    Crumpled-based materials are relatively easy to fabricate and show robust mechanical properties for practical applications, including meta-biomaterials design aimed for improved tissue regeneration. For such requests, however, the structure needs to be porous. We introduce a crumpled holey thin sheet as a robust bio-metamaterial and measure the mechanical response of a crumpled holey thin Mylar sheet as a function of the hole size and hole area fraction. We also study the formation of patterns of crease lines and ridges. The area fraction largely dominated the crumpling mechanism. We also show, the crumpling exponents slightly increases with increasing the hole area fraction and the total perimeter of the holes. Finally, hole edges were found to limit and guide the propagation of crease lines and ridges

    Shape-matching soft mechanical metamaterials

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    Architectured materials with rationally designed geometries could be used to create mechanical metamaterials with unprecedented or rare properties and functionalities. Here, we introduce "shape-matching" metamaterials where the geometry of cellular structures comprising auxetic and conventional unit cells is designed so as to achieve a pre-defined shape upon deformation. We used computational models to forward-map the space of planar shapes to the space of geometrical designs. The validity of the underlying computational models was first demonstrated by comparing their predictions with experimental observations on specimens fabricated with indirect additive manufacturing. The forward-maps were then used to devise the geometry of cellular structures that approximate the arbitrary shapes described by random Fourier's series. Finally, we show that the presented metamaterials could match the contours of three real objects including a scapula model, a pumpkin, and a Delft Blue pottery piece. Shape-matching materials have potential applications in soft robotics and wearable (medical) devices.Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Length-scale dependency of biomimetic hard-soft composites

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    Biomimetic composites are usually made by combining hard and soft phases using, for example, multi-material additive manufacturing (AM). Like other fabrication methods, AM techniques are limited by the resolution of the device, hence, setting a minimum length scale. The effects of this length scale on the performance of hard-soft composites are not well understood. Here, we studied how this length scale affects the fracture toughness behavior of single-edge notched specimens made using random, semi-random, and ordered arrangements of the hard and soft phases with five different ratios of hard to soft phases. Increase in the length scale (40 to 960 μm) was found to cause a four-fold drop in the fracture toughness. The effects of the length scale were also modulated by the arrangement and volumetric ratio of both phases. A decreased size of the crack tip plastic zone, a crack path going through the soft phase, and highly strained areas far from the crack tip were the main mechanisms explaining the drop of the fracture toughness with the length scale
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