Vehicle occupants are exposed to low frequency vibrations with possible harmful effects such as mild discomfort, lower back pain, and even injury to the spine. Occupational drivers and operators of heavy machinery are exposed to significantly longer duration and higher levels of vibration. Thus, the modeling and prediction of biodynamic response of seated occupants to such vibrations is very im...

We present the dynamic velocity profiles of a Newtonian fluid (glycerol) and a viscoelastic Maxwell fluid (CPyCl-NaSal in water) driven by an oscillating pressure gradient in a vertical cylindrical pipe. The frequency range explored has been chosen to include the first three resonance peaks of the dynamic permeability of the viscoelastic-fluid--pipe system. Three different optical measurement t...

A mathematical model describing the constitutive properties of biofilms is required for predicting biofilm deformation, failure, and detachment in response to mechanical forces. Laboratory observations indicate that biofilms are viscoelastic materials. Likewise, current knowledge of biofilm internal structure suggests modeling biofilms as associated polymer viscoelastic systems. Supporting expe...

Recent experiments suggest that lipid bilayer membranes may be viscoelastic. We present a generalized "Saffman-Einstein" relation that may be used to determine the linear viscoelastic shear modulus from single-bead microrheology experiments on membranes. We show that viscoelastic parameters can also be extracted from membrane domain flicker spectroscopy experiments. Contributions from fluid ine...

A method using experimental nanoindentation and inverse finite-element analysis (FEA) has been developed that enables the spatial variation of material constitutive properties to be accurately determined. The method was used to measure property variation in a three-dimensional printed (3DP) polymeric material. The accuracy of the method is dependent on the applicability of the constitutive mode...

INTRODUCTION Limiting the energy transfer between ventilator and lung is crucial for ventilatory strategy in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Part of the energy is transmitted to the viscoelastic tissue components where it is stored or dissipates. In mechanically ventilated patients, viscoelasticity can be investigated by analyzing pulmonary stress relaxation. While stress relaxation...

The goal of this study was to develop a nondestructive radial compression technique and to investigate the viscoelastic behavior of the rat tail disc under repeated radial compression. Rat tail intervertebral disc underwent radial compression relaxation testing and creep testing using a custom-made gravitational creep machine. The axisymmetric viscoelasticity and time-dependent recovery were de...

The Brownian motions of microscopic particles in viscous or viscoelastic fluids can be used to measure rheological properties. This is the basis of recently developed one- and two-particle microrheology techniques. For increased temporal and spatial resolution, some microrheology techniques employ optical traps, which introduce additional forces on the particles. We have systematically studied ...