The global increase in energy consumption and the global warming from greenhouse gas emission creates the need for more environmental friendly energy production processes. Biomass power plants with higher efficiency could generate more energy but also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, e.g. CO2. Biomass is the largest global contributor to renewable energy and offers no net contribution o...

The possibility for the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to certify Charpy reference specimens for testing at room temperature (21 °C ± 1 °C) instead of −40 °C was investigated in a previous study, in which a slightly increased likelihood of specimen jamming was observed at the low-energy level (13 J to 20 J). Moreover, there is a concern that the higher impact toughness o...

The rate-dependent fracture behavior of a 10-phr rubber-modified epoxy was investigated using double-cantilever-beam tests at various crosshead speeds. Dramatic rate effects were observed in the R-curve behavior and in the relationship between the applied energy-release rate and the crack velocity. Furthermore, a transition between fracture with toughening mechanisms operating (kinetic crack gr...

Fracture toughness is important for any material, but to date there have been few investigations of this mechanical property in soft mammalian tissues. This paper presents new data on porcine muscle tissue and a detailed analysis of all previous work. The conclusion is that, in most cases, fracture toughness has not in fact been measured for these tissues. Reanalysis of the previous work shows ...

The crack growth resistance of human dentin was characterized as a function of relative distance from the DEJ and the corresponding microstructure. Compact tension specimens were prepared from the coronal dentin of caries-free 3rd molars. The specimens were sectioned from either the outer, middle or inner dentin. Stable crack extension was achieved under Mode I quasi-static loading, with the cr...

The structure of human cortical bone evolves over multiple length scales from its basic constituents of collagen and hydroxyapatite at the nanoscale to osteonal structures at near-millimeter dimensions, which all provide the basis for its mechanical properties. To resist fracture, bone's toughness is derived intrinsically through plasticity (e.g., fibrillar sliding) at structural scales typical...

The cleavage fracture toughness of steels was mezzo-scopically analyzed on the basis of the statistical local fracture criterion approach. The statistical stress criterion at the crack tip region suggests that the cleavage fracture toughness in steels can be described as a function of the yield stress, the cleavage fracture stress, and other mechanical properties of the materials. Formulation o...

We recently developed a method to measure cortical bone fracture initiation toughness using a double-notched beam in four-point bending. This method was used to test the hypothesis that mineralization around the two notch roots is correlated with fracture toughness and crack extension (physical damage). Total energy absorbed to failure negatively correlated with average mineralization of the be...

The application of peel tests for the measurement of adhesive fracture toughness of metal-polymer laminates is reviewed and the merits of a mandrel peel method are highlighted. The mandrel method enables a direct experimental determination of both adhesive fracture toughness (GA) and the plastic bending energy (GP) during peel, whilst other approaches require a complex calculation for GP. In th...

The present paper investigates the effect of adding silica nanoparticles to an anhydride-cured epoxy polymer in bulk and when used as the matrix of carbonand glass-fibre reinforced composites. The formation of ‘hybrid’ epoxy polymers, containing both silica nanoparticles and carboxyl-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile (CTBN) rubber microparticles, is also discussed. The structure/property relat...