Unrelieved pressure on load-bearing muscle tissues of humans can produce pressure ulcers. In a seated upright posture, the highest pressures occur inferior to the ischial tuberosities (ITs). Moreover, the vibration can initiate the development of pressure ulcer. Therefore, the seat cushion is not only used to lower the maximum seating pressure on buttocks but also minimize the transmission of vibration to human body. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of varying vertical vibration frequencies on seat-interface contact pressure during sitting on three different seat cushions by using a finite element modeling approach. A simplified two-dimensional human buttock-thigh model was developed to simulate the mechanical response of the muscle of buttocks and thigh under vertical vibration. Static and vibrational loads with five different frequencies of 0.1, 1, 10, 30 and 50 Hz and the same amplitude of 3 mm were applied to different seat cushions. The result showed that the “SAF 6060” seat cushion with both hyperelastic and viscoelastic behaviors could be effective in reducing the amplitude of varying maximum contact pressure, especially for the frequency of 10-20 Hz. This method could help in design of seat cushions with appropriate material properties and shape so as to reduce vibrations transmitted to human body at a certain frequency range
In order to obtain more accurate properties after compaction of hydroxyapatite
(HAp)/poly-L-lactide (PLLA) composite, high-resolution measurement of mechanical properties
method is proposed to determine the properties of each phase separately, leading to information that
are valuable for the development of new materials as well as for predictive modeling purposes. The
PLLA polymer processing conditions used in hot pressing of the composite strongly influence final
mechanical properties of the material in the solid state. Since the aim was to measure PLLA
material properties, acceptable findings could only be made using unconstrained, cured in situ
nanoindentation tests. A finite element analysis of the in situ indentation experiment was performed
to determine required size of plain polymer area, needed for indentation test, which would minimize
the particle influence on the matrix elastic behavior.
The damage effects of water sorption on the mechanical properties of the hydroxyapatite particle reinforced Bis-GMA/TEGDMA copolymer (HA/Bis-GMA/TEGDMA) have been predicted using 3D finite cell models. The plasticizer effect on the polymer matrix was considered as a variation of its Young's modulus. Three different cell models were used to determine the influence of varying particle contents, interphase strength and moisture concentration on the debonding damage. The stress distribution pattern has been examined and the stress transfer mode clarified. The Young's modulus and fracture strength of the Bis-GMA/TEGDMA composite were also predicted using the model with and without consideration of the damage. The former results with consideration of the debonding damage are in good agreement with existing literature experimental data. The shielding effect of our proposed model and an alternative approach were discussed. The FCC cell model has also been extended to predict the critical load for the damaged and the undamaged composite subject to the 3-point flexural test.KEY WORDS water sorption, dental composite, interphase debonding, finite element method (FEM), unit cell model
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