Installing stone columns in the ground is an effective improvement technique to increase the load bearing capacity and reduce the consolidation settlement of the loose or weak cohesive soils. In addition to the increase in the bearing capacity and reduction in the settlement, stone columns can accelerate the dissipation rate of the excess pore water pressure generated by the surcharge, which ex...

While airway constriction has been shown to affect exhaled nitric oxide (NO), the mechanisms and location of constricted airways most likely to affect exhaled NO remain obscure. We studied the effects of histamine-induced airway constriction and ventilation heterogeneity on exhaled NO at 50 ml/s (Fe(NO,50)) and combined this with model simulations of Fe(NO,50) changes due to constriction of air...

INTRODUCTION The annulus fibrosus (AF) consists primarily of tightly arranged concentric lamellae of parallel type I collagen fiber bundles, elastin, proteoglycans, water and cells, interconnected by translamellar bridging networks [1,2]. Collagen fibers are oriented approximately 25° to 45° to the transverse plane of the disc and are arranged in alternating directions within each successive la...

The mechanical behavior of the vertebrate skull is often modeled using free-body analysis of simple geometric structures and, more recently, finite-element (FE) analysis. In this study, we compare experimentally collected in vivo bone strain orientations and magnitudes from the cranium of the American alligator with those extrapolated from a beam model and extracted from an FE model. The strain...

INTRODUCTION Bone formation inside a scaffold is a complex process involving different phenomena, one of which being the mechanical stimulation (1,2). Our goal in bone tissue engineering is, through mechanical considerations, confer osteoinductivity to a synthetic bone scaffold. In this study, we present a micro-FE analysis allowing us to evaluate the mechanical stimulation in a bone scaffold i...

To optimize the mechanical properties and integrity of tissue-engineered aortic heart valves, it is necessary to gain insight into the effects of mechanical stimuli on the mechanical behavior of the tissue using mathematical models. In this study, a finite-element (FE) model is presented to relate changes in collagen fiber content and orientation to the mechanical loading condition within the e...

Bone drilling is an essential part of many orthopaedic surgery procedures, including those for internal fixation and for attaching prosthetics. Estimation and control of bone drilling forces are critical to prevent drill breakthrough, excessive heat generation, and mechanical damage to the bone. This paper presents a 3D finite element (FE) model for prediction of thrust forces experienced durin...

We present a Finite Element (FE) approach to model the conductivity and strain-sensing capabilities of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composites. A periodic Representative Volume Element (RVE) is constructed based on measurable statistical descriptors of the microstructure, and its response is simulated by concurrent electrical and mechanical FE analyses; the scatter of the prediction...

Using realistic hydrodynamical simulations of the solar surface convection as 3D, time-dependent, inhomogeneous model atmospheres, the solar photospheric Si abundance has been determined to be log Si = 7.51 ± 0.04. This constitutes a difference of 0.04 dex compared with previous estimates based on the 1D Holweger-Müller (1974) model, of which half is attributable to the adopted model atmosphere...

Using realistic hydrodynamical simulations of the solar surface convection as 3D, time-dependent, inhomoge-neous model atmospheres, the solar photospheric Si abundance has been determined to be log ǫ Si = 7.51 ± 0.04. This constitutes a difference of 0.04 dex compared with previous estimates based on the 1D Holweger-Müller (1974) model, of which half is attributable to the adopted model atmosph...