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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

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Electrospinning was used to fabricate nonwoven nanofibrous tubular structures from Bombyx mori silk fibroin using an all aqueous process. The tubes were prepared for cell studies related to the bioengineering of small diameter vascular grafts. Prior to cell culture, the structures displayed a burst strength of 811±77.2 mmHg, sufficient to withstand arterial pressures. The tensile properties were similar to native vessels, with an ultimate tensile strength of 2.42± 0.48 MPa and a linear modulus of 2.45±0.47 MPa. Human endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells were successfully cultured on the electrospun silk, demonstrating the potential utility of these scaffolds for vascular grafts due to the combination of impressive mechanical properties and biological compatibility.

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Electro-sensitive (ES) elastomers form a class of smart materials whose mechanical properties can be changed rapidly by the application of an electric field. These materials have attracted considerable interest recently because of their potential for providing relatively cheap and light replacements for mechanical devices, such as actuators, and also for the development of artificial muscles. In this paper we are concerned with a theoretical framework for the analysis of boundary-value problems that underpin the applications of the associated electromechanical interactions. We confine attention to the static situation and first summarize the governing equations for a solid material capable of large electroelastic deformations. The general constitutive laws for the Cauchy stress tensor and the electric field vectors for an isotropic electroelastic material are developed in a compact form following recent work by the authors. The equations are then applied, in the case of an incompressible material, to the solution of a number of representative boundary-value problems. Specifically, we consider the influence of a radial electric field on the azimuthal shear response of a thick-walled circular cylindrical tube, the extension and inflation characteristics of the same tube under either a radial or an axial electric field (or both fields combined), and the effect of a radial field on the deformation of an internally pressurized spherical shell.Mathematics Subject Classification: 74B20, 74F15, 74G05