The J750 PolyJet printer is the newest model of full-color, multi-material 3D printer from Stratasys. Currently, limited information is available about the effects of control factors on mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation. In this study, the effects of two control factors, orientation and layer thickness, on mechanical properties of samples printed by the Stratasys J750 printer are investigated. The results show that orientation significantly affects mechanical properties. Specifically, samples printed with its axial direction parallel to the direction of printing have the highest elastic modulus, and elongation, whereas samples printed with its axial direction perpendicular to the direction of printing have the highest ultimate tensile strength. Also, layer thickness makes a significant difference for mechanical properties, and larger layer thickness leads to higher ultimate tensile strength and elongation. These results would be valuable to researchers and practitioners who use J750.

Metamaterials are architected artificial materials engineered to exhibit properties not typically found in natural materials. Increasing attention has recently been given to mechanical metamaterials with unprecedented mechanical properties including high stiffness, strength, or/and resilience even at extremely low density. These unusual mechanical performances emerge from the three-dimensional (3D) spatial arrangement of the micro-structural elements designed to effectively distribute mechanical loads. Recent advances in additive manufacturing in micro-/nano-scale have catalyzed the growing interest in this field. This work presents a new lightweight microlattice with tunable and recoverable mechanical properties using a three-dimensionally architected shape memory polymer (SMP). SMP microlattices were fabricated utilizing our micro additive manufacturing technique called projection micro-stereolithography (PμSL), which uses a digital micro-mirror device (DMD™) as a dynamically reconfigurable photomask. We use a photo-crosslinkable and temperature-responsive SMP which can retain its large deformation until heated for spontaneous shape recovery. In addition, it exhibits remarkable elastic modulus changes during this transition. We demonstrate that mechanical responses of the micro 3D printed SMP microlattice can be reversibly tuned by temperature control. Mechanical testing result showed that stiffness of a SMP microlattice changed by two orders of magnitude by a moderate temperature shift by 60°C. Furthermore, the shape memory effect of the SMP allows for full restitution of the original shape of the microlattice upon heating even after substantial mechanical deformation. Mechanical metamaterials with lightweight, reversibly tunable properties, and shape recoverability can potentially lead to new smart structural systems that can effectively react and adapt to varying environments or unpredicted loads.

In recent years, tissue engineering has been utilized as an alternative approach for the organ transplantation. The success rate of tissue regeneration is influenced by the type of biomaterials, cell sources, growth factors and scaffold fabrication techniques used. The poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) is one of commonly used biomaterials because of its biocompatibility, ease of use, and porous microstructure. The mechanical properties of PEGDA have been studied to some extent by several research groups. However, the stability of the mechanical properties with time has not been investigated. In this research, we studied how the mechanical properties of different concentrations of PEGDA change with the post-fabrication ageing time. Cylindrical PEGDA samples were prepared 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% concentrations and cured under the UV light. After the solidification process, weight of each sample was monitored in every 0, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours post-fabrication ageing time until the mechanical testing. Compressive elastic modulus and strength were calculated and statistically analyzed. Our results indicated that the water content of each PEGDA group constantly decreased by time, however, this loss significantly affected the elastic modulus and strength only after 6 hours in some PEGDA concentration.

Surface integrity of high performance components has a profound influence on the final performance. Therefore, surface integrity is a key point for realizing high performance manufacturing by which manufacture processes and parameters can be pre-selected according to a required functional performance of components, i.e., solving inverse problem of manufacturing, as long as correlations could be established respectively for between processes and surface integrity, and between surface integrity and performance. However, in practice it is still difficult in correlating processes to performance through surface integrity, due to the material and geometry constraints hindering achievability of a desired surface integrity during conventional manufacturing as well as the complex influence of multiple surface integrity parameters on a final performance. In this study, thermally sprayed WC-10Ni coatings onto stainless steel using high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying process are investigated to identify the surface integrity predominantly determining the water-lubricated wear performance of coated steel, and then to correlate it to process parameters. The controllable surface integrity facilitates identifying responsible surface integrity parameters for a required high performance, and subsequently deriving necessary process parameters for achieving the desired responsible surface integrity. Specifically, HVOF process parameters are adjusted by changing the oxygen-to-fuel (O/F) ratio to control thermal and mechanical processing loads, i.e. temperature of heated in-flight spraying powders and impact velocity of the molten splats onto stainless steel to form the coatings. Surface features including porosity and phase structure, and surface characteristics including hardness, elastic modulus, and fracture toughness were studied with respect to the wear performance. The porosity and WC phase composition of coatings are identified responsible for the wear performance, as two essential surface integrity parameters that in turn greatly affect the surface characteristics including coating hardness, elastic modulus and fracture toughness. Consequently, the process parameter O/F is feasibly correlated to wear resistance through the responsible surface integrity parameters, as elucidating the coating formation mechanism of influence of particle velocity and temperature on the coating porosity and WC decomposition.

The most common method for mandibular reconstructive surgery is the use of a Ti-6Al-4V fixation device and a fibular double barrel graft. This highly stiff fixation hardware (E = 112 GPa) often shields the bone graft (E = 20 GPa) from carrying the load, which may result in bone resorption. Highly stiff Ti-6Al-4V fixation hardware is also likely to concentrate stress in the fixation plate or at screw threads, possibly leading to hardware cracking or screw pull-out. As a solution for that, we have proposed and studied the effect of using a low stiffness, porous NiTi fixation device [1–4]. Although the stress in the fixation device is increased, using such low stiffness fixation hardware, is preferable to have an even higher stress on the graft in order to minimize the risk of resorption or hardware failure. We assume that preloading screws allows them to better engage the fixation hardware with the plate and the surrounding bone and causes an increased von Mises stress. The fixation device can be patient-specific and additively manufactured, such that the shape would match the outer surface of the cortical bone. In this study, we modeled a healthy cadaver mandible via CT-derived 3D surface data. The mandible was virtually resected in the molar region (M 1−3 ). The model simulated the result of reconstructive surgery under the highest chewing loading regime (i.e., 526 N on first right molar tooth [5, 6]) where reconstruction was done with either Ti-6Al-4V fixation hardware or patient specific, stiffness-matched, porous NiTi fixation hardware. The calibration of the material properties for this simulation was done using experimentally obtained data (DSC and compression tests) of Ni-rich NiTi bulk samples. The analyzed term in the finite element analysis was stress distribution in the cortical and cancellous bone. Porous NiTi fixation devices were also produced using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) using the geometry of the aforementioned cadaver mandible. In this paper we have studied the effect of additional torque or preload on the performance of the fixation plates. The finite element analysis demonstrated that applying a preload to the screws increased the stress on the bone. Under similar levels of applied preload, the porous NiTi fixation device showed an increased level of von Mises stress in the bone, particularly in the graft. Additionally, the analysis indicated the higher level of stress on the bone surrounding the screws for the case of using NiTi, which could contribute to increasing screw stability. The fabricated patient-specific fixation hardware not only matched the shape of cortical bone but also contained the level of porosity that defines the appropriate modulus of elasticity.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have very high specific strength and stiffness. The excellent properties make it possible to enhance the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites. However, it is difficult to use CNTs as the reinforcement of long fibers because of the limitation of CNT growth. In recent years, a method to spin yarns from CNT forests has developed. We have succeeded in manufacturing the unidirectional composites reinforced with the densified untwisted CNT yarns. The untwisted CNT yarns have been manufactured by drawing CNTs through a die from vertically aligned CNT arrays. In this study, the densified untwisted CNT yarns with a polymer treatment were fabricated. The tensile strength and the elastic modulus of the yarns were improved significantly by the treatment, and they were 1.9 GPa and 140 GPa, respectively. Moreover, the polymer treatment prevented the CNT yarns from swelling due to impregnation of the matrix resin. Finally, the high strength CNT yarn composites which have higher volume fraction than a conventional method were successfully fabricated.

This paper investigates the ability of the equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) process to induce morphological changes and hence tune the mechanical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). In this study, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), compression and cylindrical macro-indentation tests have been used to investigate the evolution of the mechanical properties of HDPE processed by ECAE up to four passes via route B C , i.e. counter clockwise 90° billet rotation about its longitudinal axis. It was found that the ECAE process induces significant plastic deformations with changes in the crystalline structure. The ECAE process increased the HDPE crystallinity by 10 to 15%. The number of ECAE passes has a significant effect on the magnitude of the mechanical properties especially on the elastic modulus and yield stress. Young’s modulus and yield strength decreased with increasing the number of ECAE passes and reached a stationary state after the third pass.

This paper explores a new processing method to fabricate porous zirconium tungstate (ZrW 2 O 8 or ZT) with the porosity content up to 40% in volume. The method uses spherical graphite powders that are mechanically stable, allowing us to compact with ceramic powders in dry condition. Thus, the ceramic powders mixed with spherical graphite powders can be compacted and sintered to a near full density. During sintering, the graphite powders burn out without damaging the powder compact due to their inherent near-zero thermal expansion. The processing route discussed in this paper is applicable to all oxide ceramics where the sintering can take place in air and above 700°C to dissociate the graphite. In this paper, we have applied this processing technique to fabricate porous ZrW 2 O 8 . Many porous ZrW 2 O 8 with a range of porosity levels were fabricated and tested for their theromomechanical properties including elastic modulus (E) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The experimentally determined properties were compared with the predictions based on the micromechanical Mori-Tanaka scheme.

In this paper, we investigated the effect of injection molding parameters on the mechanical properties of thin-wall injection molded parts. A four-factor (melt temperature, mold temperature, injection speed and packing pressure) and three-level fractional experimental design was performed to investigate the influence of each factor on the mechanical properties and determine the optimal process conditions that maximize the mechanical properties of the part using the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio response. The mechanical properties (e.g., elastic modulus, yield strength and strain at break) were measured by tensile tests at room temperature, at a crosshead speed of 5 mm/min, and compared with those of the injection-molded specimens. The experimental results showed that the tensile properties were highly dependent on the injection molding parameters, regardless of the type of the specimens. The values of Young modulus and yield strength of the injection-molded specimens were lower than those of the injection-molded parts, while the elongation at break was considerably lower for the injection-molded parts. The optimal process conditions were strongly dependent on the measured performance quantities (elastic modulus, yield strength and strain at break).

Additive Layer Fabrication, in particular Electron Beam Additive Fabrication (EBAF), has recently drawn much attention for its special usability to fabricate intricately designed parts as a whole. It not only increases the production rate which reduces the production lead time but also reduces the cost by minimizing the amount of waste material to a great extent. Ti6Al4V is the most common type of material that is currently being fabricated using EBAF technique. This material has been used in aerospace industry for several reasons such as excellent mechanical properties, low density, great resistance to corrosion, and non-magnetism. The effects of build direction of layers (namely, addition of layers along one of the x, y & z directions with respect to the build table) and the anisotropy effect caused by it has not been explored vigorously. This anisotropy effect has been investigated in this work. Different mechanical properties such as Yield Strength (YS), Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), and Modulus of Elasticity (E) of these three types of Ti6Al4V are determined using tensile tests and are compared with literature. The tensile test results show that YS and UTS for flat-build samples have distinguishably higher values than those of the side-build and top-build samples.

In this study, the mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) reinforced epoxy nanocomposite were measured with the custom-built micro/nano three point bending tester mounted on an atomic force microscope (AFM). With in-situ observation of the AFM, the movement of an individual MWCNT on the sample surface was traced, captured, and quantified using the image correlation technique. The Halpin-Tsai and Hui-shia models were applied and compared with the experimental data. Results showed that the elastic modulus from the experiment is much lower than the predicted values from the two models. Detailed mechanical deformation behavior and MWCNT reinforcement mechanism were discussed.

Magnesium as a candidate metallic biomaterial for biodegradable orthopedic implants was evaluated in-vitro in terms of degradation behavior, biocompatibility and mechanical property both in macro- and micro-scale. Micro structure of pure Mg and AZ61 after degradation in both simulated body fluid (SBF) and cell culture environment were analyzed. Different from AZ61, pure Mg degraded at a higher rate and attracted large amount of salt precipitation which formed a layer covering the surface. Much less pitting degradation and salt deposition were observed on both pure Mg and AZ61 in cell culture environment compared to in SBF. After culturing for 7 days, EAhy926 cells growing on AZ61 showed significant higher proliferation rate as of cells growing on pure Mg. Higher proliferation rates indicated that cells grew better on slow-degrading AZ61 than on fast-degrading pure Mg. Cells growing on AZ61 proliferated much better and assembled together to form a consistent tissue-like micro-structure, while cells spread and reached out on the surface of pure Mg, possibly due to low cell density and lack of cellular communication. The elastic modulus and tensile yield strength of magnesium are closer to those of natural bone than other commonly used metallic biomaterials. It was shown that Mg was biodegradable, biocompatible and had appropriate mechanical strength, thus Mg and its alloys showed great potential for deployment in a new generation of biodegradable orthopedic implants.

The paper is presented a dynamic installation used for determination the elastic characteristics of gypsum materials, such as elasticity modulus-E, rigidity modulus-G, etc. This dynamic installation is composed from: mechanical device for application of axial force, cylindrical gypsum samples on which are fixed 2 strain gages, 2 bridges circuit type “Switch & Balance Unite SB-10 with digital Strain Indicator-P3500, A/D board and PC. As the samples are used two cylinders with differently gypsum compositions: gypsum of dressing and light orthopedic corsets, and from gypsum with sonic absorbent and thermal isolator properties. The acquisition and the interpretation of data with MATLAB program is realized, by used two original programs: “Daquest-2m” for acquisition data, and “Evaluation-1m” for calculation and plot diagram of shock wave time. By determination of shock propagation time passing through the gypsum sample can be calculated the wave velocity and the elasticity modulus of gypsum tested. For building materials on base of gypsum with special applications in medicine, and panels with sonic absorbent and thermal isolator properties are demand to determine the elastic characteristics to enhance the manufacturing process and usefully.

Surface texturing has become a valuable technique for reducing friction and wear in contacting parts; laser surface texturing is one such method used to create micro-dimples on the interface surface. This work investigates the surface material property variation caused by laser surface texturing. The hardness and modulus of elasticity of a steel laser surface texture sample were evaluated near the dimples and away from the dimpled zone through nano-indentation. Resulting data shows that no significant difference exists between the material properties from the two positions. An alternate technique for surface texture generation was also explored, involving the use of micro-punches to create surface features in a metal sample. Computational simulations were performed using a second material underneath a thin copper sheet. The second material was present to serve as a support and to allow extensive deformation of the top material. The choice of the support material and ratio of material thicknesses was optimized to minimize pile up. Trials were conducted for three base supporting materials: PTFE, PMMA, and aluminum. Results show that PMMA performed better than the other materials. Positive deflection was minimized when the PMMA thickness was at least fifteen times that of the copper sheet. Physical experiments were completed with a thin copper sheet to verify the results. An array of micro-indentations was also created in a bulk steel sample. In order to assess the effect of dimpling via micro-forming, nano-indentation was performed near and far from the deformed material of the dimples. Similar to the laser textured sample, no significant differences were found between the two locations.

Achieving optimal mechanical strength of scaffolds is the key issue in bone tissue engineering. We describe a biomimetic route for design of composites of polymers (polyacrylic acid (PAAc) and polycaprolactone (PCL)) and hydroxyapatite (HAP). The mineral polymer interfaces have a significant role on mechanical behavior as well as bioactivity of the composite systems. We have used a combination of experimental (photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy) as well as modeling (molecular dynamics) techniques to evaluate the nature of interfaces in the composites. Porous composite scaffolds of in situ HAP with PCL are made. Our simulation studies indicate calcium bridging between COO − of PAAc and surface calcium of HAP as well as hydrogen bonding. These results are also supported by infrared spectroscopic studies. PAAc modified surfaces of in situ HAP influence the microstructure and mechanical response of porous composites. Significant differences are present in the mechanical response of in situ and ex situ composite scaffolds. In addition, the growth and mechanism of apatite growth in the in situ and ex situ composites is different. Bioactivity is measured by soaking composite scaffolds in simulated body fluid (SBF). Apatite growth in ex situ composites is primarily by heterogeneous nucleation and that in in situ is primarily by homogeneous nucleation. We also observe that apatite grown on in situ HAP/PCL composites from SBF exhibits higher elastic modulus and hardness. Thus, by influencing the interfacial behavior in bone biomaterials both mechanical response and bioactivity of the composite systems may be modified. The present study gives insight into the interfacial mechanisms responsible for mechanical response as well as bioactivity in biomaterials.