Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Disturbed Cyclical Stretch Of Endothelial Cells Promotes Nuclear Expression Of The Pro-Atherogenic Transcription Factor Nf-Kb, Ryan M. Pedrigi, Konstantinos I. Papadimitriou, Avinash Kondiboyina, Sukhjinder Sidhu, James Chau, Miten B. Patel, Daniel C. Baeriswyl, Emmanuel M. Drakakis, Rob Krams

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Exposure of endothelial cells to low and multidirectional blood flow is known to promote a pro-atherogenic phenotype. The mechanics of the vessel wall is another important mechano-stimulus within the endothelial cell environment, but no study has examined whether changes in the magnitude and direction of cell stretch can be pro-atherogenic. Herein, we developed a custom cell stretching device to replicate the in vivo stretch environment of the endothelial cell and examined whether low and multidirectional stretch promote nuclear translocation of NF-kB. A fluid–structure interaction model of the device demonstrated a nearly uniform strain within the region of cell attachment and …

Anisotropy Evolution Due To Surface Treatment On 3d-Printed Fused Deposition Modeling (Fdm) Of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (Abs), Blake E. Lozinski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Purpose: This paper will present insight to the methodology and results of the experimental characterization of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The work in this research explored the effects of print orientation, surface treatment, and ultraviolet (UV) light degradation with the utilization of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) on ABS tensile specimens.

Design/methodology: ABS specimens were printed at three build orientations (flat (0 degrees), 45 degrees, and up-right (90 degrees)). Each of these specimens were treated with three different surface treatments including a control (acrylic paint, Cyanoacrylate, and Diglycidyl Bisphenol A) followed by exposure to UV light …

Quantification Of Re-Absorption And Re-Emission Processes To Determine Photon Recycling Efficiency In Perovskite Single Crystals, Yanjun Fang, Haotong Wei, Qingfeng Dong, Jinsong Huang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Photon recycling, that is, iterative self-absorption and re-emission by the photoactive layer itself, has been speculated to contribute to the high open-circuit voltage in several types of high efficiency solar cells. For organic–inorganic halide perovskites that have yielded highly efficient photovoltaic devices, however, it remains unclear whether the photon recycling effect is significant enough to improve solar cell efficiency. Here we quantitatively evaluate the re-absorption and re-emission processes to determine photon recycling efficiency in hybrid perovskite with its single crystals by measuring the ratio of the re-emitted photons to the initially excited photons, which is realized by modulating their polarization …

Target Lesion Calcium Arc Influence The Performance Of Stenting, Pengfei Dong, Shengmao Lin, David L. Wilson, Hiram G. Bezerra, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the most common revascularization procedure, in which, fibrocalcific plaques are found in 17–35% of patients undergoing PCI [1]. Numbers will rise with population aging and prolonged statin treatment. Calcifications often lead to stent under expansion and strut malapposition, with increased risk of thrombosis and in-stent restenosis [2]. Presence of calcium strongly inhibits stent performance, a well-documented metric for outcome [3]. The goal of this work is to develop the finite element models for inspecting the influence of the calcium arc extent on the stenting outcomes, such as the stress and strain distribution within the plaque, …

Growth Mechanisms Of Multiscale, Mound-Like Surface Structures On Titanium By Femtosecond Laser Processing, Edwin Peng, Ryan Bell, Craig A. Zuhlke, Meiyu Wang, Dennis R. Alexander, George Gogos, Jeffrey E. Shield

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Femtosecond laser surface processing (FLSP) can be used to functionalize many surfaces, imparting specialized properties such as increased broadband optical absorption or superhydrophobicity/- hydrophilicity. In this study, the subsurface microstructure of a series of mound-like FLSP structures formed on commercially pure titanium using five combinations of laser fluence and cumulative pulse counts was studied. Using a dual beam Scanning Electron Microscope with a Focused Ion Beam, the subsurface microstructure for each FLSP structure type was revealed by cross-sectioning. The microstructure of the mounds formed using the lowest fluence value consists of the original Ti grains. This is evidence that preferential …

Dissipative Elastic Metamaterial With A Lowfrequency Passband, Yongquan Liu, Jianlin Yi, Zheng Li, Xianyue Su, Wenlong Li, Mehrdad Negahban

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We design and experimentally demonstrate a dissipative elastic metamaterial structure that functions as a bandpass filter with a low-frequency passband. The mechanism of dissipation in this structure is well described by a mass-spring-damper model that reveals that the imaginary part of the wavenumber is non-zero, even in the passband of dissipative metamaterials. This indicates that transmittance in this range can be low. A prototype for this viscoelastic metamaterial model is fabricated by 3D printing techniques using soft and hard acrylics as constituent materials. The transmittance of the printed metamaterial is measured and shows good agreement with theoretical predictions, demonstrating its …

Narrowband Nanocomposite Photodetector, Jinsong Huang, Fawen Guo, Liang Shen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A photodetector includes an anode that is transparent or partially transparent to light, a cathode and an active layer disposed between the anode and the cathode. The active layer includes a nanocomposite material that has a polymer blended with nanoparticles or organic electron trapping particles. The photodetector has a low dark current when not illuminated by light and has a high conductivity when illuminated by light, in which the light passes the anode and is absorbed by the active layer. The active layer has a thickness selected such that the photodetector has a narrowband spectral response.

Role Of Copper Oxide Layer On Pool Boiling Performance With Femtosecond Laser Processed Surfaces, Corey Kruse, Edwin Peng, Craig Zuhlke, Jeff Shield, Dennis Alexander, Sidy Ndao, George Gogos

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Copper pool boiling surfaces are tested for pool boiling enhancement due to femtosecond laser surface processing (FLSP). FLSP creates self-organized micro/nanostructures on metallic surfaces and creates highly wetting and wicking surfaces with permanent surface features. In this study two series of samples were created. The first series consists of three flat FLSP copper surfaces with varying microstructures and the second series is an open microchannel configuration with laser processing over the horizontal surfaces of the microchannels. These microchannels range in height from 125 microns to 380 microns. Each of these surfaces were tested for pool boiling performance. It was found …

Organic-Inorganic Graphite And Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Based Composites For 3d Printing, Jorge Alfredo Catalan Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project was multipronged to help fuse together topics of additive manufacturing and two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, and studying the mechanical and electrical properties of the composites produced. The composites are made from the thermoplastic polymer acting as a matrix and the graphite and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) serving as the filler or reinforcement. Different concentrations of TMD's were added to the matrix to study the effect of composition on the mechanical and electrical properties. To shed insights into the mechanical properties, test coupons were produced as "dog bone" structures for tensile testing using the ASTM D638 type 5 …

Mechanically Activated Magnesiothermic Combustion Synthesis Of Zirconium And Hafnium Diborides, Sergio Cordova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generation of electric power has the potential to increase the thermal efficiency of fossil-fuel burning power plants. Electrode materials in MHD generators must possess a high melting point, high electrical and thermal conductivities, chemical stability, and resistance to thermal shock, oxidation, and plasma sparks/arcs. Ultra-high temperature ceramics based on diborides of zirconium and hafnium (ZrB2 and HfB2) are promising materials for this application. Self-propagating high-temperature synThesis (SHS) is an attractive method for their large-scale fabrication, but SHS of ZrB2 and HfB2 from elemental Zr, Hf, and B is not economically viable because of the high cost of the …

Structural And Mechanical Characterization Of Nanocrystalline Tungsten And Tungsten-Based Alloy Thin Films For Extreme Environment Applications, Gustavo Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Extreme environments associated with nuclear applications often results in degradation of the physical, mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of the materials. Tungsten (W) exhibits unique physical and mechanical properties, which makes tungsten a good candidate for nuclear applications; however, intrinsic W exhibits low fracture toughness at all temperatures in addition to a high ductile to brittle transition. In the present work, nanocrystalline W, W-Y and W-Mo alloys were nanoengineered for nuclear applications. Nanocrystalline tungsten coatings with a thickness of ~1 µm were deposited onto Silicon (100) and Sapphire (C-plane) using RF and DC sputtering techniques under various growth conditions. Yttrium content …

Comprehensive Finite Element Modeling Of Ti-6al-4v Cellular Solids Fabricated By Electron Beam Melting, Edel Arrieta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing permits the fabrication of cellular metals which are materials that can be highly customizable and possess multiple and extraordinary properties such as damage tolerance, metamorphic and auxetic behaviors, and high specific stiffness. This makes them the subject of interest for innovative applications. With interest in these materials for energy absorption applications, this work presents the development of nonlinear finite element models in commercial software platforms (MSC Patran/Nastran) that permit the analysis of the deformation mechanisms of these materials under compressive loads. In the development of these models, a detailed multiscale study on the different factors affecting the response …

Atomically Informed Nonlocal Semidiscrete Variational Peierls-Nabarro Model For Planar Core Dislocations, Guisen Liu, Xi Cheng, Jian Wang, Kaiguo Chen, Yao Shen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Prediction of Peierls stress associated with dislocation glide is of fundamental concern in understanding and designing the plasticity and mechanical properties of crystalline materials. Here, we develop a nonlocal semi-discrete variational Peierls-Nabarro (SVPN) model by incorporating the nonlocal atomic interactions into the semi-discrete variational Peierls framework. The nonlocal kernel is simplified by limiting the nonlocal atomic interaction in the nearest neighbor region, and the nonlocal coefficient is directly computed from the dislocation core structure. Our model is capable of accurately predicting the displacement profile, and the Peierls stress, of planar-extended core dislocations in face-centered cubic structures. Our model could be …

Photoluminescence From Radiative Surface States And Excitons In Methylammonium Lead Bromide Perovskites, Dengyang Guo, Davide Bartesaghi, Haotong Wei, Eline M. Hutter, Jinsong Huang, Tom J. Savenije

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In view of its band gap of 2.2 eV and its stability, methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr₃) is a possible candidate to serve as a light absorber in a subcell of a multijunction solar cell. Using complementary temperature-dependent time-resolved microwave conductance (TRMC) and photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements, we demonstrate that the exciton yield increases with lower temperature at the expense of the charge carrier generation yield. The low-energy emission at around 580 nm in the cubic phase and the second broad emission peak at 622 nm in the orthorhombic phase originate from radiative recombination of charges trapped in defects with …

Helium Irradiation And Implantation Effects On The Structure Of Amorphous Silicon Oxycarbide, Qing Su, Shinsuke Inoue, Manabu Ishimaru, Jennifer A. Gigax, Tianyao Wang, Hepeng Ding, Michael J. Demkowicz, Lin Shao, Michael Nastasi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Despite recent interest in amorphous ceramics for a variety of nuclear applications, many details of their structure before and after irradiation/implantation remain unknown. Here we investigated the short-range order of amorphous silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) alloys by using the atomic pair-distribution function (PDF) obtained from electron diffraction. The PDF results show that the structure of SiOC alloys are nearly unchanged after both irradiation up to 30 dpa and He implantation up to 113 at%. TEM characterization shows no sign of crystallization, He bubble or void formation, or segregation in all irradiated samples. Irradiation results in a decreased number of Si-O bonds …

Suspended Graphene-Based Gas Sensor With 1-Mw Energy Consumption, Jong-Hyun Kim, Qin Zhou, Jiyoung Chang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper presents NH₃ sensing with ultra-low energy consumption for fast recovery and a graphene sheet based on a suspended microheater. Sensitivity and repeatability are important characteristics of functional gas sensors embedded in mobile devices. Moreover, low energy consumption is an essential requirement in flexible and stretchable mobile electronics due to their small dimension and fluctuating resistivity during mechanical behavior. In this paper, we introduce a graphene-based ultra-low power gas detection device with integration of a suspended silicon heater. Dramatic power reduction is enabled by a duty cycle while not sacrificing sensitivity. The new oscillation method of heating improves …

Vorticella: A Protozoan For Bio-Inspired Engineering, Sangjin Ryu, Rachel E. Pepper, Moeto Nagai, Danielle C. France

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this review, we introduce Vorticella as a model biological micromachine for microscale engineering systems. Vorticella has two motile organelles: the oral cilia of the zooid and the contractile spasmoneme in the stalk. The oral cilia beat periodically, generating a water flow that translates food particles toward the animal at speeds in the order of 0.1–1 mm/s. The ciliary flow of Vorticella has been characterized by experimental measurement and theoretical modeling, and tested for flow control and mixing in microfluidic systems. The spasmoneme contracts in a few milliseconds, coiling the stalk and moving the zooid at 15–90 mm/s. Because the …

Low-Drag Events In Transitional Wall-Bounded Turbulence, Richard D. Whalley, Jae Sung Park, Anubhav Kushwaha, David J.C. Dennis, Michael D. Graham, Robert J. Poole

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intermittency of low-drag pointwise wall shear stress measurements within Newtonian turbulent channel flow at transitional Reynolds numbers (friction Reynolds numbers 70 – 130) is characterized using experiments and simulations. Conditional mean velocity profiles during low-drag events closely approach that of a recently discovered nonlinear traveling wave solution; both profiles are near the so-called maximum drag reduction profile, a general feature of turbulent flow of liquids containing polymer additives (despite the fact that all results presented are for Newtonian fluids only). Similarities between temporal intermittency in small domains and spatiotemporal intermittency in large domains is thereby found.

Flowtaxis Of Osteoblast Migration Under Fluid Shear And The Effect Of Rhoa Kinase Silencing, Brandon D. Riehl, Jeong Soon Lee, Ligyeom Ha, Il Keun Kwon, Jung Yul Lim

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Despite the important role of mechanical signals in bone remodeling, relatively little is known about how fluid shear affects osteoblastic cell migration behavior. Here we demonstrated that MC3T3-E1 osteoblast migration could be activated by physiologically-relevant levels of fluid shear in a shear stress-dependent manner. Interestingly, shear-sensitive osteoblast migration behavior was prominent only during the initial period after the onset of the steady flow (for about 30 min), exhibiting shear stress-dependent migration speed, displacement, arrest coefficient, and motility coefficient. For example, cell speed at 1 min was 0.28, 0.47, 0.51, and 0.84 μm min^-1 for static, 2, 15, and 25 …

Fluid-Structure Interaction In Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Effect Of Modeling Techniques, Shengmao Lin, Xinwei Han, Yonghua Bi, Siyeong Ju, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this work, the impact of modeling techniques on predicting the mechanical behaviors of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is systematically investigated. The fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model for simultaneously capturing the transient interaction between blood flow dynamics and wall mechanics was compared with its simplified techniques, that is, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or computational solid stress (CSS) model. Results demonstrated that CFD exhibited relatively smaller vortexes and tends to overestimate the fluid wall shear stress, compared to FSI. On the contrary, the minimal differences in wall stresses and deformation were observed between FSI and CSS models. Furthermore, it was found that …

High Temperature Near-Field Nanothermomechanical Rectification, Mahmoud Elzouka, Sidy Ndao

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Limited performance and reliability of electronic devices at extreme temperatures, intensive electromagnetic fields, and radiation found in space exploration missions (i.e., Venus & Jupiter planetary exploration, and heliophysics missions) and earth-based applications requires the development of alternative computing technologies. In the pursuit of alternative technologies, research efforts have looked into developing thermal memory and logic devices that use heat instead of electricity to perform computations. However, most of the proposed technologies operate at room or cryogenic temperatures, due to their dependence on material’s temperature-dependent properties. Here in this research, we show experimentally—for the first time—the use of near-field thermal radiation …

Surface Charge Switchable And Ph-Responsive Chitosan/Polymer Core-Shell Composite Nanoparticles For Drug Delivery Application, W. F. Huang, C. P. Tsui, M. Yang, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The mutually conflicting surface charge requirements for nanoparticles to have long circulation and good cell affinity have made the development of polymer nanoparticles for controlled drug delivery fall into a dilemma. In order to solve this problem, the first attempt has been made in this work to develop vancomycin loaded composite nanoparticles with a novel chitosan core and poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) shell structure and with both pH-responsive and surface charge switchable properties. Spherical composite nanoparticles have been successfully fabricated through a modified emulsion-gelation method with a controllable size (316–573 nm), surface charge (–27.6–31.75 mV) and encapsulation efficiency up to 70.8%. …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Heterogeneous Cell Membranes In Response To Uniaxial Membrane Stretches At High Loading Rates, Lili Zhang, Zesheng Zhang, John Jasa, Dongli Li, Robin O. Cleveland, Mehrdad Negahban, Antoine Jérusalem

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The chemobiomechanical signatures of diseased cells are often distinctively different from that of healthy cells. This mainly arises from cellular structural/compositional alterations induced by disease development or therapeutic molecules. Therapeutic shock waves have the potential to mechanically destroy diseased cells and/or increase cell membrane permeability for drug delivery. However, the biomolecular mechanisms by which shock waves interact with diseased and healthy cellular components remain largely unknown. By integrating atomistic simulations with a novel multiscale numerical framework, this work provides new biomolecular mechanistic perspectives through which many mechanosensitive cellular processes could be quantitatively characterised. Here we examine the biomechanical responses of …

High-Velocity Projectile Impact Induced 9r Phase In Ultrafine-Grained Aluminium, Sichuang Xue, Zhe Fan, Olawale B. Lawal, Ramathasan Thevamaran, Qiang Li, Yue Liu, K. Y. Yu, Jian Wang, Edwin L. Thomas, Haiyan Wang, Xinghang Zhang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Aluminium typically deforms via full dislocations due to its high stacking fault energy. Twinning in aluminium, although difficult, may occur at low temperature and high strain rate. However, the 9R phase rarely occurs in aluminium simply because of its giant stacking fault energy. Here, by using a laser-induced projectile impact testing technique, we discover a deformation-induced 9R phase with tens of nm in width in ultrafine-grained aluminium with an average grain size of 140 nm, as confirmed by extensive post-impact microscopy analyses. The stability of the 9R phase is related to the existence of sessile Frank loops. Molecular dynamics simulations …

Controllable Energy Absorption Of Double Sided Corrugated Tubes Under Axial Crushing, Hozhabr Mozafari, Shengmao Lin, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

To maximize the controllable energy absorption of corrugation troughs as observed in the single sided corrugated (SSC) tube, we proposed and tested a new structure design, i.e., double-sided corrugated (DSC) tube made of Al 6060-T6 aluminum alloy or CF1263 carbon/epoxy composite. Finite element models were developed to test the mechanical advantage of the DSC tube in comparison with both SSC and classical straight (S) tubes under axial crushing. Results have shown that the total absorbed energy of the DSC aluminum tube with 14 corrugations was 330% and 32% higher than that of the SSC tube with 14 corrugations and the …

Novel Polyethylene Fibers Of Very High Thermal Conductivity Enabled By Amorphous Restructuring, Bowen Zhu, Jing Liu, Tianyu Wang, Shah R. Valloppilly, Shen Xu, Xinwei Wang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

High-thermal-conductivity polymers are very sought after for applications in various thermal management systems. Although improving crystallinity is a common way for increasing the thermal conductivity (k) of polymers, it has very limited capacity when the crystallinity is already high. In this work, by heat-stretching a highly crystalline microfiber, a significant k enhancement is observed. More interestingly, it coincides with a reduction in crystallinity. The sample is a Spectra S-900 ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) microfiber of 92% crystallinity and high degree of orientation. The optimum stretching condition is 131.5 °C, with a strain rate of 0.0129 s−1 to a low strain ratio …

Dislocations Interaction Induced Structural Instability In Intermetallic Al2Cu, Qing Zhou, Jian Wang, Amit Misra, Ping Huang, Fei Wang, Kewei Xu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intermetallic precipitates are widely used to tailor mechanical properties of structural alloys but are often destabilized during plastic deformation. Using atomistic simulations, we elucidate structural instability mechanisms of intermetallic precipitates associated with dislocation motion in a model system of Al₂Cu. Interaction of non-coplanar <001> dislocation dipoles during plastic deformation results in anomalous reactions—the creation of vacancies accompanied with climb and collective glide of <001> dislocation associated with the dislocation core change and atomic shuffle—accounting for structural instability in intermetallic Al₂Cu. This process is profound with decreasing separation of non-coplanar dislocations and increasing temperature and is likely to be …

A Rapid And Non-Invasive Method For Measuring The Peak Positive Pressure Of Hifu Fields By A Laser Beam, Hua Wang, Deping Zeng, Ziguang Chen, Zengtao Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Based on the acousto-optic interaction, we propose a laser deflection method for rapidly, non-invasively and quantitatively measuring the peak positive pressure of HIFU fields. In the characterization of HIFU fields, the effect of nonlinear propagation is considered. The relation between the laser deflection length and the peak positive pressure is derived. Then the laser deflection method is assessed by comparing it with the hydrophone method. The experimental results show that the peak positive pressure measured by laser deflection method is little higher than that obtained by the hydrophone, confirming that they are in reasonable agreement. Considering that the peak pressure …

Benchmark Burnishing With Almen Strip For Surface Integrity, Z. Y. Liu, C. H. Fu, M. P. Sealy, Y. Zhao, Y. B. Guo

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Burnishing is a surface treatment process widely used in aerospace, navy and other industries to improve fatigue and corrosion resistance by introducing a compressive residual stress layer. The measurement of residual stress by XRD is expensive, time consuming, and tedious. This work presented a quick method to determine the residual stress by using Almen strips. Inspired by the application of Almen strips in shot peening, deflections of burnished Almen strips under different burnishing conditions were measured. It was found that the deflection of Almen strip reflects the magnitude and penetration depth into subsurface of induced stress. Higher burnishing force, smaller …

Effects Of Aspect Ratio On The Mode Couplings Of Thin-Film Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonators, Nian Li, Zhenghua Qian, Jiashi Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We studied mode couplings in thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators of a piezoelectric film on a dielectric layer operating with the fundamental thickness-extensional mode. A system of plate equations derived in our previous paper was used which includes the couplings to the unwanted in-plane extension, flexure, fundamental and second-order thickness shear modes. It was shown that the couplings depend strongly on the plate length/thickness ratio. For a relatively clean operating mode with weak couplings to unwanted modes, a series of discrete values of the plate length/thickness ratio should be avoided and these values were determined in the present paper. …