DETERMINATION OF EPOXY RESIN ’ S MECHANICAL PROPERTIES BY EXPERIMENTAL-COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURES IN TENSION Assist . Prof . VLDILV
The use of epoxy resins in metal structures for adhesive reasons is getting wider. Epoxy resins possess enhanced mechanical, chemical and physical properties, i.e. increased shear and compression strength, resistance in solvents, as well as at high temperatures. Tensile tests were carried out with standard aluminium tension specimens glued with epoxy resins. The thickness of the glue and the acting crosssection area were variable. The specimens were cemented under constant temperature and humidity conditions. The experimental results were simulated with the aid of FEM-based procedures, while the stress–strain curves of the epoxy resins, as obtained by nanoindentations and corresponding FEM-supported algorithm, were taken into account. The obtained results allow the determination of the epoxy resins’ strength versus its thickness and the occupying cross-section area.
Thin hard coatings stress–strain curve determination through a FEM supported evaluation of nanoindentation test results
Abstract The widespread use of thin hard physical vapor deposited (PVD) coatings in various technical applications necessitates the precise knowledge of their mechanical properties. Up to now the coating elasticity and plasticity properties were approached with the aid of simplified considerations of the nanoindentation procedure and a consequent evaluation of the obtained nanohardness measurement results, depending, however, on the indentation load. In the present paper a continuous finite elements method (FEM) simulation of the nanoindentation hardness test is introduced in order to describe the coating elastic and plastic deformation during this test and herewith to extract precisely and independent of the indentation load the coating stress–strain curve. Characteristic applications of the developed procedure demonstrate the adequacy of this method to determine the coatings constitutive laws of various coating materials deposited under different conditions.
Comparative study of in vitro flow characteristics between a human aortic valve and a designed aortic valve and six corresponding types of prosthetic heart valves.
A model of a pulsatile cardiovascular system is described including an electronic control, a hydraulic driving unit, a volume storage, a peripheral resistance and measuring equipment. Six different artificial heart valves, a designed aortic valve (Aachen pockett valve II) and a human aortic valve have been tested in the outflow position of the pump. Three of them are presently being used in clinical applications. Measurements of pressure and volume flow have been obtained for different frequencies n, pump volumes Vp and time ratios between pressure and suction phase. From the experimental results a comparative evaluation was deducted for different working conditions. In comparison to natural human aortic valve (NK) large volume flow is verified by the Aachen pocket valve II (AT), the Gott-Dagget value (GD), the Starr-Edwards valve (SE) and the Lillehei-Kaster valve (LK). The Gott-Daggett valve has the smallest back flow volume. The Smeloff-Cutter and in particular the Wada-Cutter valve have the largest regurgitation. This is to be expected since the Cutter valves are purposely so designed that they do not close tightly in order to avoid blood sedimentation. The human aortic valve, the Gott-Daggett valve and the Aachen pocket valve demonstrate the most favourable opening-closing characteristics. The human aortic valve achieves a negligible pressure loss, followed by the Björk-Shiley and the Lillehei-Kaster valve.