We study a minimal extension of the wormlike chain model to describe polypeptides having a-helical secondary structure. In this model the presence or absence of secondary structure enters as a scalar variable that controls the local chain bending modulus. Using this model we compute the extensional compliance of an a-helix under tensile stress, the bending compliance of the molecule under exter...

A ligamentous, nonlinear, sliding contact, three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of L2-L3 complex was developed to investigate the biomechanical effect of laminectomy with and without facetectomy. The L2-L3 FE model was validated against experimental study under various physiological loadings and found to match well with the experimental data. Four iatrogenic models (unilateral laminectom...

Zirconia-nickel functionally graded materials were obtained by powder metallurgy technique. The microstructure, residual stress, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness were investigated. Mixed-mode fracture response of YSZ /Ni functionally graded materials was examined utilizing the three point bending test and finite element method (Cosmos/M 2.7). The results show that the stress intensity fac...

Removal of large segments of the apical part of the stipe of Coprinus cinereus (extending to about half its length) affected neither the ability of the stipe to show gravitropic bending nor its ability to compensate the curvature so induced and adjust to the vertical. However, gravitropic reaction time was directly proportional to the amount of stipe removed. Application of lateral loads of up ...

Biological activity gives rise to nonequilibrium fluctuations in the cytoplasm of cells; however, there are few methods to directly measure these fluctuations. Using a reconstituted actin cytoskeleton, we show that the bending dynamics of embedded microtubules can be used to probe local stress fluctuations. We add myosin motors that drive the network out of equilibrium, resulting in an increase...

Pseudomorphic three-dimensional Ge nanocrystals (quantum dots) grown on thin silicon-on-insulator substrates can induce significant bending of the silicon template layer that is local on the nanometer scale. We use molecular dynamics simulations and analytical models to confirm the local bending of the Si template and to show that its magnitude approaches the maximum value for a freestanding me...

In this paper dynamic damping properties of a nominated flexible structural adhesive have been identified using an extended-direct modal based joint identification method. It has been revealed that damping characteristics of adhesive are correlated to both frequency and mode shape. Young’s and shear moduli increase with frequency but damping on the other hand, decrease. The results showed that ...

Design of shear walls is a complex procedure, especially if the cross section of the shear wall is not regular in shape. Shear walls are usually treated like cantilevers fixed at the foundation level. Normally, lift wells are designed as shear walls. The design of shear walls takes horizontal forces into account by shear and bending. Design for shear in the walls can be managed by computing the...

0022-3093/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. A doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2008.06.014 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +609 258 5680; fax: + E-mail address: [email protected] (G.W. Sche The Young’s moduli of a set of silica aerogels have been measured by two techniques: 3-point bending and uniaxial compression. The data found by the two methods differ strongly. The uniaxial compression test g...

Rapid progress in the reduction of substrate thickness for silicon-based microelectronics leads to a significant reduction of the device bending stiffness and the need to address its implication for the thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior of metallization layers. Results on 5 µm thick Cu films reveal a strong substrate thickness-dependent microstructural evolution. Substrates with hs = 323 and 2...