BACKGROUND Several physiological and pathological conditions in daily life cause sustained static bending or torsion loads on the spine resulting in creep of spinal segments. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of creep and recovery on the range of motion, neutral zone, and neutral zone stiffness of thoracolumbar multi-level spinal segments in flexion, extension, lateral be...

This study presents an application of artificial neural networks (ANN) for the prediction of repeated creep test results for polypropylene (PP) modified asphalt mixtures. Polypropylene fibers are used to modify the bituminous binder in order to improve the physical and mechanical properties of the resulting asphaltic mixture. Marshall specimens, fabricated with M-03 type polypropylene fibers at...

Time-dependent creep stress redistribution analysis of thick-walled FGM spheres subjected to an internal pressure and a uniform temperature field is investigated. The material creep and mechanical properties through the radial graded direction are assumed to obey the simple power-law variation throughout the thickness. Total strains are assumed to be the sum of elastic, thermal and creep strain...

background: infertility has potentially inappropriate effects on quality of life in infertile couples. various general and specific questionnaires have been structured for assessing different aspects of quality of life in infertile men, women, or couples. the present systematic review was designed to assess these questionnaires and also identify different factors affecting infertile couples bas...

Extensive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been performed to study the microstructure evolution of a self-reinforced silicon nitride associated with high temperature creep. A large population of strain whorls is observed in samples crept at relatively high temperatures and the strain whorls are not necessarily asymmetrical with respect to the grain boundary normal. Large angle converg...

The increased thermal efficiency of fossil power plants calls for the development of advanced creep-resistant alloy steels like T92. In this study, microstructures found in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a T92 steel weld were simulated to evaluate their creep-rupture-life at elevated temperatures. An infrared heating system was used to heat the samples to 860 °C (around AC1), 900 °C (slightly ...