Laser tube bending is a flexible forming process. Two irradiation methods of axial and circumferential scanning are generally used to form metal tubes. The two most important disadvantages of circumferential scanning are its lower bending angle and the time interval required between each scan for cooling purpose. In this research, a novel cooling strategy during laser tube bending with circumfe...

Soft actuators are receiving increasing attention from the engineering community, not only in research but even for industrial applications. Among soft actuators, fibre-reinforced Bending Fluidic Actuators (BFAs) became very popular thanks to features such as robustness and easy design and fabrication. However, an accurate modelling of these smart structures, taking into account all the nonline...

This paper develops an efficient, physically based shape manipulation technique. It defines a 3D model with profile curves, and uses spine curves generated from the profile curves to control the motion and global shape of 3D models. Profile and spine curves are changed into profile and spine wires by specifying proper material and geometric properties together with external forces. The underlyi...

This work concerns an assessment of the behavior of infilled frames. The feasibility of possible immediate implementation of some recent developments both in analysis and design of infilled frames for practical design is investigated. It is now widely recognized that masonry infill panels used in reinforced concrete (R/C) frame structures, significantly enhance both the stiffness and the streng...

In recent years, glass-fiber reinforced composite materials are more and more used in structural applications. Their mechanical properties: low density, high strength and high chemical corrosionresistance offer an interesting alternative solution to metallic or concrete material. The pultrusion is a composite material processing technique that is penetrating the civil engineering market since t...

Free oscillations of upright plant stems, or in technical terms, slender tapered rods with one end free, can be described by considering the equilibrium between bending moments in the form of a differential equation with appropriate boundary conditions. For stems with apical loads, where the mass of the stem is negligible, Mathematica 4.0 returns solutions for tapering modes α = 0, 0.5, and 1. ...

Nanobiomaterials are introducing new capabilities to coordinate cell selection, growth, morphology, and differentiation. Herein, we report that tuning the geometry of ordered arrays of nanopillars (NP) elicits specialized morphologies in adherent cells. Systematic analysis of the effects of the NP radius, height, and spacing reveals that stem cells assume either flattened, polarized, or stellat...

We investigated the effect of pre-heating a femoral component on the porosity and strength of bone cement, with or without vacuum mixing used for total hip replacement. Cement mantles were moulded in a manner simulating clinical practice for cemented hip replacement. During polymerisation, the temperature was monitored. Specimens of cement extracted from the mantles underwent bending or fatigue...

the spline finite strip method (s.f.s.m.) for buckling analysis of plates and plate assemblies subjected to longitudinal compression and bending, transverse compression as well as shear is described. the method allows for the boundary conditions. local buckling coefficients of plates with different boundary conditions under compression, bending and shear are calculated. convergence studies with...

A new method for investigating the detailed reaction and the energy absorption of trees during a rock impact was developed and applied to 15 subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) trees. A wedge-shaped trolley, guided by prestressed steel wires, was mounted on a forested slope to simulate a falling rock. The trolley accelerates down the wires and hits a tree at a preselected stem height...