Small-distortion constitutive laws are often extemporaneously generalized to large deformations by merely applying them in the unrotated material frame or, equivalently, by using polar rates. This approach does render the resulting constitutive model indifferent to large superimposed rigid rotations, but it may lead to incorrect predictions for both the magnitude and direction of stress wheneve...

At present, mills producing structural timber generally undertake strength grading at the end of the production process, i.e., after buying the material and sawing it into timber which is then dried. This means that any variation in wood stiffness between forest stands and between trees is unknown and unaccounted for until the end of the manufacturing process. Portable stress-wavebased tools pr...

A relationship based on the modified couple stress theory is developed to investigate the flexural sensitivity of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP). This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, two vertical extensions and two tips located at the free ends of the extensions which form a caliper. An approximate solution to the flexural vibration problem is obta...

A relationship based on the modified couple stress theory is developed to investigate the flexural sensitivity of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP). This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, two vertical extensions and two tips located at the free ends of the extensions which form a caliper. An approximate solution to the flexural vibration problem is obta...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Because epidemiological studies show that increased pulse pressure and carotid wall-material stiffness are predictors of cardiovascular mortality independent of age, atherosclerosis, and conventional risk factors, the relationships between carotid wall stiffness and blood pressure are important to the optimization of cardiovascular prevention. SUMMARY OF REVIEW In middl...

It might be assumed that increasing the thickness of a glove would reduce the vibration transmitted to the hand. Three material samples from an anti-vibration glove were stacked to produce three thicknesses: 6.4, 12.8 and 19.2 mm. The dynamic stiffnesses of all three thicknesses, the apparent mass at the palm and the finger and the transmission of vibration to the palm and finger were measured....

Nanoindentation testing is a technique that determines the mechanical properties of a material in the sub-micron scale. The test involves penetrating a sample material using an indenter, while the penetration depth and load are recorded so that the stiffness and hardness of the indented location can be subsequently calculated. The continuous stiffness measurement technique offers a tool to prob...

This thesis takes a material perspective on designing transformable interfaces. The structure of material and mechanical properties such as stiffness, can determine not only its static performances, but also, with the help of external forces, support dynamic shape change. By encoding structural or stiffness distribution in the actuated materials, we can partially offload the shape-changing cont...

This thesis takes a material perspective on designing transformable interfaces. The structure of material and mechanical properties such as stiffness, can determine not only its static performances, but also, with the help of external forces, support dynamic shape change. By encoding structural or stiffness distribution in the actuated materials, we can partially offload the shape-changing cont...

In this paper, a procedure has been presented to develop fragility curves of structures equipped with optimal variable damping or stiffness semi-active tuned mass dampers (SATMDs). To determine proper variable damping or stiffness of semi-active devices in each time step, instantaneous optimal control algorithm with clipped control concept has been used. Optimal SATMDs have been designed based ...