The aim of this work was to develop a bioresorbable, biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic polymer with good mechanical properties for bone tissue engineering applications. Polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds were generated by 3D printing using the fused deposition modelling method, and reinforced by incorporation of graphene oxide (GO). Morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy indicated that the scaffold average pore size was between 400 and 500 μm. Topography imaging revealed a rougher surface upon GO incorporation (Sa = 5.8 μm for PLA scaffolds, and of 9.9 μm for PLA scaffolds with 0.2% GO), and contact angle measurements showed a transition from a hydrophobic surface (pure PLA scaffolds) to a hydrophilic surface after GO incorporation. PLA thermomechanical properties were enhanced by GO incorporation, as shown by the 70 °C increase of the degradation peak (thermal gravimetric analysis). However, GO incorporation did not change significantly the melting point assessed by differential scanning calorimetry. Physicochemical analyses by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the filler presence. Tensile testing demonstrated that the mechanical properties were improved upon GO incorporation (30% increase of the Young's modulus with 0.3%GO). Cell viability, attachment, proliferation and differentiation assays using MG-63 osteosarcoma cells showed that PLA/ GO scaffolds were biocompatible and that they promoted cell proliferation and mineralization more efficiently than pure PLA scaffolds. In conclusion, this new 3D printed nanocomposite is a promising scaffold with adequate mechanical properties and cytocompatibility which may allow bone formation.

Our aim is to estimate regional mechanical properties of the annulus fibrosus (AF) using a multi-relaxation tensile test and to examine the relevance of using the transverse dilatations in the identification procedure. We collected twenty traction specimens from both outer (n = 10) and inner (n = 10) sites of the anterior quadrant of the annulus fibrosus of one pig spine. A 1-h multi-relaxation tensile test in the circumferential direction allowed us to measure the force in the direction of traction and the dilatations in all three directions. We performed a specific-sample finite element inverse analysis to identify variations, along the radial position, of material and structural parameters of a hyperelastic compressible and anisotropic constitutive law. Our experimental results reveal that the outer sites are subjected to a significantly greater stress than the inner sites and that both sites exhibit an auxetic behavior. Our numerical results suggest that the inhomogeneous behavior arises from significant variations of the fiber angle taken into account within the hyperelastic constitutive law. In addition, we found that the use of the measured transverse dilatations in the identification procedure had a strong impact on the identified mechanical parameters. This pilot study suggests that, in quasi-static conditions, the annulus fibrosus may be modeled by a hyperelastic compressible and anisotropic law with a fiber angle gradient from inner to outer periphery.

This study analyses the thermomechanical tensile behaviour of a cold drawn Ti-50.9at.%Ni wire submitted to heat treatment at 598 K for 30 min, which is below the recrystallization temperature (623 K). Such low temperature heat treatment induces a superelastic loop without a stress "plateau". However, the absence or weakness of peaks on its differential scanning calorimetry prevents the determination of specific latent heat. This is a common effect of nanostructured materials such as superelastic wires. A method using strain and temperature field measurements was developed and used to determine thermal power and thermal energy during superelastic tensile tests through a heat balance. From these results and using a thermodynamic approach, forward and reverse specific latent heat and the martensite fraction are estimated as a function of strain and stress.

The stems of flax (Linum usitatissimum L. cv. 'Mogilevsky') contain many gelatinous fibers in their phloem. These fibers are important for the mechanical stability of the plant as well as for industrial applications. Gelatinous fibers are known to have a motor function in the xylem of trees and in many plant organs. This function arises from the so-called maturation strain, i.e., the tendency of the gelatinous layer to shrink during fiber maturation, resulting in a state of residual tensile stress. However, the occurrence of tensile maturation strain in flax phloem fibers remains to be demonstrated, and its magnitude has never been evaluated. Here we present a novel method to highlight and quantify this strain. The method consists in splitting a stem segment longitudinally, and measuring the curvature of the half segments through their opening distance. By using a mechanical model, the maturation strain can be calculated from the curvature, the dimensions of the component tissues, and their elastic properties. The model is validated by the agreement between model predictions and observations. The splitting experiment provides qualitative evidence that flax phloem develops tensile stress during maturation, just as xylem gelatinous fibers do. Calculations enable quantitative estimation of the maturation strain. The magnitude of this strain for the material studied is, on average, -1.5%.

Today, plant fibers are considered as an important new renewable resource that can compete with some synthetic fibers, such as glass, in fiber-reinforced composites. In previous works, it was noted that the pectin-enriched middle lamella (ML) is a weak point in the fiber bundles for plant fiber-reinforced composites. ML is strongly bonded to the primary walls of the cells to form a complex layer called the compound middle lamella (CML). In a composite, cracks preferentially propagate along and through this layer when a mechanical loading is applied. In this work, middle lamellae of several plant fibers of different origin (flax, hemp, jute, kenaf, nettle, and date palm leaf sheath), among the most used for composite reinforcement, are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The peak-force quantitative nanomechanical property mapping (PF-QNM) mode is used in order to estimate the indentation modulus of this layer. AFM PF-QNM confirmed its potential and suitability to mechanically characterize and compare the stiffness of small areas at the micro and nanoscale level, such as plant cell walls and middle lamellae. Our results suggest that the mean indentation modulus of ML is in the range from 6 GPa (date palm leaf sheath) to 16 GPa (hemp), depending on the plant considered. Moreover, local cell-wall layer architectures were finely evidenced and described.

The periodic homogenisation method is often used to study the behaviour of heterogeneous media, like fibre enforced composites, soils or tissues. In this present work, the method is applied to derive the homogenised behaviour of a one-dimensional elastic heterogeneous medium under non-linear deformations. For the microscopic description of the problem the St. Venant-Kirchhoff model for hyperelastic material is used. An expression corresponding to the homogenised stress at the macroscopic scale is obtained. The model is tested by studying a special case of a heterogeneous medium composed of two materials with constant Young’s moduli. The obtained stress curve represents realistic values. Furthermore, it is shown that different approaches used in the homogenisation process can lead to different results (e.g. linearisation of non-linearities). Therefore, the importance of non-dimensional formulation before homogenisation process is underlined. Finally, an example of numerical computations at the micro- and macroscopic scales is presented. The results are coherent and enabled us to validate the modeling.

Multibody models are often coupled with other domains in order to enlarge the scope of computer-based analysis. In particular, modeling multibody systems (MBSs) in interaction with granular media is of great interest for industrial process such as railway track maintenance, handling of aggregates, etc. This paper presents a strong coupling methodology for unifying a multibody formalism using relative coordinates and a discrete element method based on non-smooth contact dynamics (NSCD). Both tree-like and closed-loop MBSs are considered. For the latter, the coordinate partitioning techniques is applied in the NSCD framework. The proposed approach is applied on the slider-crank mechanism benchmark. Results are in very good agreement with results obtained with other techniques from the literature. Finally, a multibody model of a tamping machine is coupled to a discrete element model of railway ballast in order to analyse efficiency of track maintenance. This application demonstrates that the dynamics of the machine must be taken into account so as to estimate the performance of the maintenance process correctly.