The incidence of restenosis has been shown to be correlated with the overstretching of the arterial wall during an angioplasty procedure. It has been proposed that slow balloon inflation results in lower intramural stresses, therefore minimizing vascular injury and restenosis rate. The analysis of the biomechanics of the arterial tissue might contribute to understand which factors trigger restenosis. However, few mechanical data are available on human arteries because of the difficulty of testing artery samples often obtained from autopsy while arteries are still considered "fresh". Various solutions mimicking the physiological environment have been used to preserve artery samples from harvesting to testing. In vitro mechanical testing is usually preferred since it is difficult to test arteries in vivo. Uniaxial and biaxial testing has been used to characterize anisotropic materials such as arteries, although methodological aspects are still debated. Several objectives were formulated and analyzed during the making of this thesis. In one study, the effect of deformation rate on the mechanical behavior of arterial tissue was investigated. The effect of several preservation methods, including cryopreservation, on the mechanical properties of porcine thoracic aortas was also analyzed. Finally, the differences in the mechanical behavior between three different types of sample geometry and boundary conditions were compared under uniaxial and equi-biaxial testing. Thoracic aortas were harvested within the day of death of pigs from a local slaughterhouse. Upon arrival, connective tissue was removed from the external wall of the artery. Then the artery was cut open along its length and cut out in rectangular samples for uniaxial testing, and square and cruciform samples for biaxial testing. Samples belonging to the freezing effect study were preserved for two months at -20°C and -80°C in isotonic saline solution, Krebs-Henseleit solution with 1.8 M dimethylsulfoxide, and dipped in liquid nitrogen. Samples belonging to the deformation rate effect study were tested uniaxially and equi-biaxially at deformation rates from 10 to 200 %/s. The uniaxial and biaxial experiments were simulated with the help of an inverse finite element software. The use of inverse modeling to fit the material properties by taking into account the non-uniform stress distribution was demonstrated. A rate-dependent isotropic hyperelastic constitutive equation, derived from the Mooney-Rivlin model, was fitted to the experimental results (i.e. deformation rate study). In the proposed model, one of the material parameters is a linear function of the deformation rate. Overall, inverse finite element simulations using the proposed constitutive relation accurately predict the mechanical properties of the arterial wall. In this thesis, it was found that easier attachment of samples (rectangular and cruciform) is accomplished using clamps rather than hooks. It was also found that the elastic behavior of arteries is nonlinear and non-isotropic when subjected to large deformations. Characterization of the arterial behavior at large deformations over a higherdeformation range was achieved using cruciform samples. The mechanical properties of arteries did not significantly change after preservation of arteries for two months. Under uniaxial and biaxial testing, loading forces were reduced up to 20% when the deformation rate was increased from 10 to 200 %/s, which is the opposite to the behaviour seen in other biological tissues. The differences observed in the mechanical behavior of fresh and thawed samples were not significant, independently of the storing medium or freezing temperature used. The lack of significant differences observed in the freezing study was likely due to the small number of samples tested per storing group. Further studies are required to clarify the impact of cryopreservation on extracellular matrix architecture to help tailor an optimized approach to preserve the mechanical properties of arteries. From the results obtained in the deformation rate study, it is concluded that the stiffness of arteries decreases with an increase in the deformation rate. In addition, the effect of deformation rate was observed to be higher than the effect of anisotropy. The inverse relationship between stiffness and deformation rate raises doubts on the hypothesized relationship between intramural stress, arterial injury, and restenosis.

The incidence of restenosis has been shown to be correlated with the overstretching of the arterial wall during an angioplasty procedure. It has been proposed that slow balloon inflation results in lower intramural stresses, therefore minimizing vascular injury and restenosis rate. The analysis of the biomechanics of the arterial tissue might contribute to understand which factors trigger restenosis. However, few mechanical data are available on human arteries because of the difficulty of testing artery samples often obtained from autopsy while arteries are still considered "fresh". Various solutions mimicking the physiological environment have been used to preserve artery samples from harvesting to testing. In vitro mechanical testing is usually preferred since it is difficult to test arteries in vivo. Uniaxial and biaxial testing has been used to characterize anisotropic materials such as arteries, although methodological aspects are still debated. Several objectives were formulated and analyzed during the making of this thesis. In one study, the effect of deformation rate on the mechanical behavior of arterial tissue was investigated. The effect of several preservation methods, including cryopreservation, on the mechanical properties of porcine thoracic aortas was also analyzed. Finally, the differences in the mechanical behavior between three different types of sample geometry and boundary conditions were compared under uniaxial and equi-biaxial testing. Thoracic aortas were harvested within the day of death of pigs from a local slaughterhouse. Upon arrival, connective tissue was removed from the external wall of the artery. Then the artery was cut open along its length and cut out in rectangular samples for uniaxial testing, and square and cruciform samples for biaxial testing. Samples belonging to the freezing effect study were preserved for two months at -20°C and -80°C in isotonic saline solution, Krebs-Henseleit solution with 1.8 M dimethylsulfoxide, and dipped in liquid nitrogen. Samples belonging to the deformation rate effect study were tested uniaxially and equi-biaxially at deformation rates from 10 to 200 %/s. The uniaxial and biaxial experiments were simulated with the help of an inverse finite element software. The use of inverse modeling to fit the material properties by taking into account the non-uniform stress distribution was demonstrated. A rate-dependent isotropic hyperelastic constitutive equation, derived from the Mooney-Rivlin model, was fitted to the experimental results (i.e. deformation rate study). In the proposed model, one of the material parameters is a linear function of the deformation rate. Overall, inverse finite element simulations using the proposed constitutive relation accurately predict the mechanical properties of the arterial wall. In this thesis, it was found that easier attachment of samples (rectangular and cruciform) is accomplished using clamps rather than hooks. It was also found that the elastic behavior of arteries is nonlinear and non-isotropic when subjected to large deformations. Characterization of the arterial behavior at large deformations over a higherdeformation range was achieved using cruciform samples. The mechanical properties of arteries did not significantly change after preservation of arteries for two months. Under uniaxial and biaxial testing, loading forces were reduced up to 20% when the deformation rate was increased from 10 to 200 %/s, which is the opposite to the behaviour seen in other biological tissues. The differences observed in the mechanical behavior of fresh and thawed samples were not significant, independently of the storing medium or freezing temperature used. The lack of significant differences observed in the freezing study was likely due to the small number of samples tested per storing group. Further studies are required to clarify the impact of cryopreservation on extracellular matrix architecture to help tailor an optimized approach to preserve the mechanical properties of arteries. From the results obtained in the deformation rate study, it is concluded that the stiffness of arteries decreases with an increase in the deformation rate. In addition, the effect of deformation rate was observed to be higher than the effect of anisotropy. The inverse relationship between stiffness and deformation rate raises doubts on the hypothesized relationship between intramural stress, arterial injury, and restenosis.

The incidence of restenosis has been shown to be correlated with the overstretching of the arterial wall during an angioplasty procedure. It has been proposed that slow balloon inflation results in lower intramural stresses, therefore minimizing vascular injury and restenosis rate. The analysis of the biomechanics of the arterial tissue might contribute to understand which factors trigger restenosis. However, few mechanical data are available on human arteries because of the difficulty of testing artery samples often obtained from autopsy while arteries are still considered "fresh". Various solutions mimicking the physiological environment have been used to preserve artery samples from harvesting to testing. In vitro mechanical testing is usually preferred since it is difficult to test arteries in vivo. Uniaxial and biaxial testing has been used to characterize anisotropic materials such as arteries, although methodological aspects are still debated. Several objectives were formulated and analyzed during the making of this thesis. In one study, the effect of deformation rate on the mechanical behavior of arterial tissue was investigated. The effect of several preservation methods, including cryopreservation, on the mechanical properties of porcine thoracic aortas was also analyzed. Finally, the differences in the mechanical behavior between three different types of sample geometry and boundary conditions were compared under uniaxial and equi-biaxial testing. Thoracic aortas were harvested within the day of death of pigs from a local slaughterhouse. Upon arrival, connective tissue was removed from the external wall of the artery. Then the artery was cut open along its length and cut out in rectangular samples for uniaxial testing, and square and cruciform samples for biaxial testing. Samples belonging to the freezing effect study were preserved for two months at -20°C and -80°C in isotonic saline solution, Krebs-Henseleit solution with 1.8 M dimethylsulfoxide, and dipped in liquid nitrogen. Samples belonging to the deformation rate effect study were tested uniaxially and equi-biaxially at deformation rates from 10 to 200 %/s. The uniaxial and biaxial experiments were simulated with the help of an inverse finite element software. The use of inverse modeling to fit the material properties by taking into account the non-uniform stress distribution was demonstrated. A rate-dependent isotropic hyperelastic constitutive equation, derived from the Mooney-Rivlin model, was fitted to the experimental results (i.e. deformation rate study). In the proposed model, one of the material parameters is a linear function of the deformation rate. Overall, inverse finite element simulations using the proposed constitutive relation accurately predict the mechanical properties of the arterial wall. In this thesis, it was found that easier attachment of samples (rectangular and cruciform) is accomplished using clamps rather than hooks. It was also found that the elastic behavior of arteries is nonlinear and non-isotropic when subjected to large deformations. Characterization of the arterial behavior at large deformations over a higherdeformation range was achieved using cruciform samples. The mechanical properties of arteries did not significantly change after preservation of arteries for two months. Under uniaxial and biaxial testing, loading forces were reduced up to 20% when the deformation rate was increased from 10 to 200 %/s, which is the opposite to the behaviour seen in other biological tissues. The differences observed in the mechanical behavior of fresh and thawed samples were not significant, independently of the storing medium or freezing temperature used. The lack of significant differences observed in the freezing study was likely due to the small number of samples tested per storing group. Further studies are required to clarify the impact of cryopreservation on extracellular matrix architecture to help tailor an optimized approach to preserve the mechanical properties of arteries. From the results obtained in the deformation rate study, it is concluded that the stiffness of arteries decreases with an increase in the deformation rate. In addition, the effect of deformation rate was observed to be higher than the effect of anisotropy. The inverse relationship between stiffness and deformation rate raises doubts on the hypothesized relationship between intramural stress, arterial injury, and restenosis. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Reliable and inexpensive methods of in-situ stress measurement have been sought for more than 40 years. A number of non-destructive core-based methods of in-situ stress determination are currently available, among which Deformation Rate Analysis ' DRA ' and Acoustic Emissions ' AE ' method have the most promising potential due to their ability to measure stress as opposed to strain, which is measured by strain recovery techniques. The DRA and AE method are similar in their utilisation of a phenomenon termed Kaiser effect in the case of AE and deformation memory effect in the case of DRA. The KE/DME is defined as a recollection of a maximum stress a rock core had been subjected prior to its retrieval from the in-situ environment. The physical nature of this phenomenon has not however been universally established. In this study, interaction of microcracks as the most probable cause of the KE/DME, was investigated. To reproduce the damage that occurs to rock at the micro level, a discrete element modelling code was required, which enabled dynamic failure propagation to be modelled. Commercially available code PFC [ superscript 2D ] was found to be suitable for this purpose due to its ability to explicitly model mechanical damage in rocks. The numerical model was based on a real prototype - a sandstone rock core, which had also been previously subjected to the DRA. Although the bulk of the numerical tests were conducted on intact rock models, it was found that changes in the lithology and introduction of discontinuities did not have significant effect on the DME. Influence of the confining stress on the DME was confirmed. It was assumed that only the highest historical stress could be determined reliably using the DRA technique. The ability of the numerical model to reproduce the DME was validated. The link between the DME and development of microcracks was established. The results of the study encourage further use of the code for understanding the micromechanical behaviour of rocks under loading. / Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.)--Australian School of Petroleum, 2004.

Abstract This research is to develop a new compound cage system that not only has the benefit of the traditional cage system but also has a series of oyster containers hanged on the circumference of the floating collar to add economic value to the cage aquaculture industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cage net deformation rate and the maximum mooring tension at the anchor under three types of Liuchiu sea states. The results of numerical simulation could be used as valuable guide for fish farmers and aquacultural cage designers. The developed numerical method is based on a lumped-mass approach to build a system of motion equations, and then utilizes the fourth order Runge-Kutta method to solve the motion equations. The numerical results reveal that under regular wave conditions, the cage net deformation rate for the compound cage system is slightly less than that of the traditional cage system, but the maximum mooring tension has reversed effect, i.e., the compound cage system has higher mooring tension than that of traditional one. As for the cases of irregular waves, the numerical results indicate that the cage net deformed so seriously that the fish can¡¦t survived at the sea condition of typhoon 50-year return period. To overcome this net shrinkage problem, an improved scheme is necessary to be implemented before a real compound cage system is installed in the open sea.