Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was used to model viscoelastic effects in the compression of polyurethane (PU) foam. Modelling of the impact compression of foam cubes predicted that a compressed region propagated through the sample, causing step increases in the stress traces. Modelling of head impacts on gymnastic ‘crash’ mats, made of PU chip foam, revealed that the majority, but not all, of th...

We consider the problem of detecting cardiac artery occlusions using stenosis driven viscoelastic (VE) waves propagated through biotissue to body surface sensors. We investigate possible statistical model formulations (ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized least squares (GLS)) and post analysis techniques (residual plots) to ascertain uncertainty in estimates as well as validity of the stat...

This study presents a finite element (FE) micromechanical modelling approach for the simulation of linear and damage-coupled viscoelastic behaviour of asphalt mixture. Asphalt mixture is a composite material of graded aggregates bound with mastic (asphalt and fine aggregates). The microstructural model of asphalt mixture incorporates an equivalent lattice network structure whereby intergranular...

This paper characterized bovine extraocular muscles (EOMs) using creep, which represents long-term stretching induced by a constant force. After preliminary optimization of testing conditions, 20 fresh EOM samples were subjected to four different loading rates of 1.67, 3.33, 8.33, and 16.67%/s, after which creep was observed for 1,500 s. A published quasilinear viscoelastic (QLV) relaxation fun...

There are many tactile devices for indentation examinations to measure mechanical properties of tissue. The purpose of this paper is to develop a portable indentation robotic device to show its usability for measuring the mechanical properties of a healthy abdominal tissue. These measurements will help to develop suitable mathematical models representing abdominal tissue. A 1-DOF portable robot...

Intradiscal and intervertebral pressure transducers were developed. They were used to map the pressures in the nucleus and within the annulus of the human spinal segments. Their stressrelaxation were recorded over a period of time for nucleus pressure, applied load, and peripherial strain against time. The results show that for normal discs, pressures in the nucleus are viscoelastic in nature w...