The objective of this study was to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying heating-induced tenderness in muscle food products by comparing tenderness changes in chicken breast (Pectoralis major) and salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) during high-temperature treatment. Relationships among changes in chicken breast and pink salmon muscle were investigated for tenderness, cook loss, area shrinkag...

Osteoderms are bony scutes embedded underneath the dermal layers of the skin acting as a protection of the alligator (Archosauria: Crocodylia) internal organs and tissues. Additionally, these scutes function as an aid in temperature regulation. The scutes are inter-linked by fibrous connective tissue. They have properties similar to bone and thus have the necessary toughness to provide protecti...

An understanding of the evolution of toughness is essential for the mechanistic interpretation of the fracture of cortical bone. In the present study, in vitro fracture experiments were conducted on human cortical bone in order to identify and quantitatively assess the salient toughening mechanisms. The fracture toughness was found to rise linearly with crack extension (i.e., rising resistance-...

The tensile fractures of ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al-Mg alloy with a bimodal grain size were investigated at the microand macroscale using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with focused ion beam (FIB), and optical microscopy. The nanoscale voids and crack behaviors near the tensile fracture surfaces were revealed in various scale ranges and provi...

Crack tip shielding phenomena, whereby the "effective crack-driving force" actually experienced at the crack tip is locally reduced, are examined with reference to fatigue crack propagation behavior in metals, composites and ceramics. Sources of shielding are briefly described in terms of mechanisms relying on the production of elastically constrained zones which envelop the crack (zone shieldi...

Platelet reinforcement can increase the fracture toughness of ceramics. However, the responsible mechanisms are still not clearly understood. In this paper we examine the role of residual stresses due to thermal expansion mismatch. The residual stress distribution can be calculated using the effective-field approximation for ellipsoidal inclusions. The three main toughening mechanisms (crack de...