Collecting microlymphatics play a vital role in promoting lymph flow from the initial lymphatics in the interstitial spaces to the large transport lymph ducts. In most tissues, the primary mechanism for producing this flow is the spontaneous contractions of the lymphatic wall. Individual units, known as lymphangion, are separated by valves that help prevent backflow when the vessel contracts, thus promoting flow through the lymphatic network. Lymphatic contractile activity is inhibited by flow in isolated lymphatics, however there are virtually no in situ measurements of lymph flow in these vessels. Initially, a high speed imaging system was set up to image in situ preparations at 500 fps. These images were then manually processed to extract information regarding lymphocyte velocity (-4 to 10 mm/sec), vessel diameter (25 to 165 um), and particle location. Fluid modeling was performed to obtain reasonable estimates of wall shear stress (-8 to 17 dynes/cm2). One of the difficulties encountered was the time consuming methods of manual particle tracking. Using previously captured images, an image correlation method was developed to automate lymphatic flow measurements and to track wall movements as the vessel contracts. Using this method the standard error of prediction for velocity measurements was 0.4 mm/sec and for diameter measurements it was 7.0 µm. It was found that the actual physical quantity being measured through this approach is somewhere between the spatially averaged velocity and the maximum velocity of a Poiseuille flow model.

The rate dependence of several aluminum alloys (6061, 7075, 5083) was examined through the means of quasi-static tension tests, dynamic tension tests, and split pressure Hopkinson bar tests. The macroscopic strains of the quasi-static and dynamic tension tests were measured after failure within the uniform region and the necked region using high-resolution images and edge detection. The study continued with an exploration into the plane-stress ductile fracture of Al 6061 in the T6 and O condition. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to find the displacement and strain fields, and a numerical method for calculating the stress fields for a power law hardening material was developed. The J-integral was then calculated locally. The effect of strain hardening on the type of fracture (slant or flat) was also investigated. Macroscopic and microscopic observations of the fracture were made with DIC and by dissecting, polishing and/or etching the broken fracture specimens. Local failure strain measurements were made on the grain level and compared with those found through traditional failure strain measurements. / text

Laminated composites are materials with complex architecture made of continuous fibers embedded within a polymeric resin. The properties of the raw materials can vary from one point to another due to different local processing conditions or complex geometrical features for example. A first step towards the identification of these spatially varying material parameters is to image with precision the displacement fields in this complex microstructure when subjected to mechanical loading. This thesis is aimed to accurately measure the displacement and strain fields at the fiber-matrix scale in a cross-ply composite. First, the theories of both local subset-based digital image correlation (DIC) and global finite-element based DIC are outlined. Second, in-situ secondary electron tensile images obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are post-processed by both DIC techniques. Finally, it is shown that when global DIC is applied with a conformal mesh, it can capture more accurately sharp local variations in the strain fields as it takes into account the underlying microstructure. In comparison to subset-based local DIC, finite-element based global DIC is better suited for capturing gradients across the fiber-matrix interfaces.

In the structural engineering community, a need exists for a non-contact two-dimensional measurement system which could provide information for field monitoring and greatly enhance the accuracy of numerical structural models. Recent advances have enabled the use of digital image correlation (DIC) to calculate the surface displacements of chosen targets in a series of digital images with a high degree of accuracy. Images are recorded during an experiment and are afterwards post-processed to find relevant information including, but not limited to, a) global displacement, b) relative displacement and c) changes in strain. In this research, a series of experiments were conducted to create measurement techniques for monitoring steel and reinforced concrete (RC) structures utilizing DIC. However, to ensure accurate DIC measurements, the addition of artificial texture from lightly applied spray paint on finished concrete was investigated and was determined to noticeably improve results. Furthermore, the placement of the digital camera relative to the structure being monitored was shown to control not only the desired field of view in the region of interest, but also the resulting image texture and DIC measurement accuracy. The DIC technique was applied to monitor and understand two important aspects of structural evaluation: a) the movement along shear planes and b) the evaluation of changes in strain due to curvature in beam elements. To monitor the change in crack width and slip, a method was created and validated on a series of artificial and reinforced concrete images for the cases of pure shear, pure flexure and combine flexure and shear. Curvature was found to impact the crack slip measurement, but its effect can be removed by using an innovative averaging technique. The curvature of a steel HSS and RC beams was found by using virtual DIC strain gauges and the horizontal strain profile. Results matched well with the curvature from electrical foil gauges and numerical models when the gauge length was maximized and selected so that the effects of cracking were accounted for. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-28 09:36:04.274

In the cancer research, it is important to understand protein dynamics which are involved in cell signaling. Therefore, particular protein detection and analysis of target protein behavior are indispensable for current basic cancer research. However, it usually performed by conventional biochemical approaches, which require long process time and a large amount of samples. We have been developed the new applications based on microfluidics and Raster image Correlation spectroscopy (RICS) techniques. A simple microfluidic 3D hydrodynamic flow focusing device has been developed for quantitative determinations of target protein concentrations. The analyte stream was pinched not only horizontally, but also vertically by two sheath streams by introducing step depth cross junction structure. As a result, a triangular cross-sectional flow profile was formed and the laser was focused on the top of the triangular shaped analyte stream. Through this approach, the target protein concentration was successfully determined in cell lysate samples. The RICS technique has been applied to characterize the dynamics of protein 53 (p53) in living cells before and after the treatment with DNA damaging agents. P53 tagged with Green Fluores-cent Protein (GFP) were incubated with and without DNA damaging agents, cisplatin or eptoposide. Then, the diffusion coefficient of GFP-p53 was determined by RICS and it was significantly reduced after the drug treatment while that of the one without drug treatment was not. It is suggested that the drugs induced the interaction of p53 with either other proteins or DNA. This result demonstrates that RICS is able to detect protein-protein or protein-DNA interactions in living cells and it may be useful for the drug screening. As another application of microfluidics, an integrated microfluidic platform was developed for generating collagen microspheres with encapsulation of viable cells. The platform integrated four automated functions on a microfluidic chip, (1) collagen solution cooling system, (2) cell-in-collagen microdroplet generation, (3) collagen microdroplet polymerization, and (4) incubation and extraction of the microspheres. This platform provided a high throughput and easy way to generate uniform dimensions of collagen microspheres encapsulating viable cells that were able to proliferate for more than 1 week.

Gamma titanium aluminide alloys are emerging as a lightweight replacement to nickel superalloys, with current application in turbine stages of aero-engines, as well as in high performance automobiles and potentially the nuclear industry. The lack of toughness of its two constitutive intermetallic phases, γ-TiAl and α2-Ti3Al, prevents a conventional damage tolerant approach to fatigue lifing. To gain confidence in the use of γ-TiAl alloys and extend the temperature-stress envelope of applicability, the present work aims to achieve an understanding of the development of plasticity and flaw formation during cyclic loading. The general plasticity of a γ-TiAl alloy, Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn(at.%)-0.8vol.%TiB2, in compression was investigated by mapping the development of localised strain at the specimen surface. Methods were developed to produce speckle patterns for high resolution digital image correlation that were stable at test temperatures of 700 °C in air, in order to study the extent of plasticity generated by differing deformation mechanisms at application-relevant temperatures, with nano-scale resolution. At the colony scale (i.e. single stacks of co-planar α2-Ti3Al and γ-TiAl lamellae, where each stack is formed from a single high temperature disordered α-TiAl grain), macroscopic deformation bands were observed to develop at only a few percent strain. Within such bands, which propagated across many colonies of differing lamellar orientations, considerable lattice curvature and localised slip and twin operation occurred. This correlated with colony boundary failure in such bands. Twinning of the γ-TiAl phase parallel to the lamellar interfaces, longitudinal twinning, has rarely been studied, despite generalised twinning in equiaxed γ-TiAl grains being known to cause boundary decohesion. Here, the occurrence of longitudinal twinning in both microcompression and polycrystalline testpieces was investigated up to 700 °C by electron backscatter diffraction. The strength of constraint by surrounding lamellar domains was found to be the determining factor in the increased prominence of twinning at 700 °C, and hence determined whether twinning shear-induced flaws formed at colony boundaries. Using the high temperature digital image correlation strain mapping and electron backscatter diffraction techniques developed, along with transmission electron microscopy, the onset of plasticity at temperatures up to 700 °C was studied in both micro-scale and macro-scale test specimens for different lamellar thicknesses. Testpieces were loaded below the macroscopic yield stress in both monotonic and high cycle fatigue regimes, to 107 cycles, at a tensile stress ratio of R = 0.1. Longitudinal plasticity occurred in most colonies with soft mode lamellar orientations, and was located just 30 - 50 nm from lamellar interfaces. Lamellar refinement caused an increased number of slip bands to develop. In most cases, plastic strains decreased to zero by the colony boundary and strain transfer across such boundaries in high cycle fatigue was rare. At room temperature, the maximum applied stress was found to influence the number of slip bands more than the number of loading cycles.

Advanced composite materials are widely used for many structural applications in the aerospace/aircraft industries today. Joining of composite structures using adhesive bonding offers several advantages over traditional fastening methods. However, this technique is not yet employed for fastening the primary structures of aircrafts or space vehicles. There are several reasons for this: There are not any reliable non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods that can quantify the strength of the bonds, and there are no certifications of quality assurance for inspecting the bond quality. Therefore, there is a significant need for an effective, reliable, easy to use NDE method for the analysis of composite adhesive joints. This research aimed to investigate an adhesively bonded composite-aluminum joints of variable bond strength using digital image correlation (DIC). There are many future possibilities in continuing this research work. As the application of composite materials and adhesive bond are increasing rapidly, the reliability of the composite structures using adhesive bond should quantified. Hence a lot of similar research using various adhesive bonds and materials can be conducted for characterizing the behavior of adhesive bond. The results obtained from this research will set the foundation for the development of ultrasonic DIC as a nondestructive approach for the evaluation of adhesive bond line.

This thesis examines the feasibility of combining Digital Image Correlation (DIC) with laser speckle based methods to form a new hybrid deformation measurement method called Digital Laser Speckle Image Correlation (DilSIC). Consequently, this method does not require any sample preparation and allows for the measurement of displacement of micro structures in addition to large displacements. In this technique, a coherent 30mW-632nm laser beam is expanded with 40X lens and then illuminated on the target surface to produce a fine, homogenous laser speckle pattern. Images were captured before and after deformation due to external load and the whole field displacement and strain were determined by the DIC method. This technique could measure displacement less than 30-μm with high accuracy when a 120mm × 80mm area of the surface was inspected. Up to 10% strain was measured by this technique with high accuracy during the whole range. Eventually the sub-surface crack was located successfully, which is a revolutionary achievement in NDT optical methods. This method was tested in different material, with different roughness. Aluminum sheet and rubber material were used mostly. This method could broaden the capability of displacement measurement and subsurface crack detection in wide range of materials.

The primary objective of this research is to conduct further evaluation of ultrasonic digital image correlation (UT-DIC) on strain map analysis and defect detection of adhesive joints with embedded speckle pattern. UT-DIC is a non-destructive evaluation method that utilized ultrasonic C-scan images for whole field strain and displacement analysis. Acrylic glass, epoxy resin system and metal shavings with high acoustic impedance of a specific weight were used to create the samples which were loaded under tension. Defects with varying shapes and sizes were implemented by surface preparation to understand the limits of this approach. UT-DIC and optical DIC strain map results were compared, and it was found that each approach detected certain shapes of defect better than the other.

As coberturas constituem um elemento essencial para a sobrevivÃncia humana. As transformaÃÃes mais portantes das cobertas relacionaram-se, por um lado, com a prÃ-fabricaÃÃo do material a ser utilizado, que veio permitir maiores garantias de Ãxito em qualquer aplicaÃÃo, e por outro lado, com o aparecimento de novos materiais na construÃÃo, como o vidro laminado, peÃas de madeira, os materiais plÃsticos e principalmente o alumÃnio e o aÃo. Neste contexto os telhados de metal sÃo bem avaliados por vÃrios motivos, sÃo resistentes, durÃveis, vencem grandes vÃos, resistem à corrosÃo e sÃo mais leves em relaÃÃo Ãs cerÃmicas, gerando economia nos custos da estrutura e facilidade no manuseio, transporte e montagem. A problemÃtica dos ventos de alta velocidade, como furacÃes e tempestades, muitas vezes causam danos graves Ãs telhas metÃlicas. Os danos causados pelo vento mostraram que a fadiga promove uma trinca no telhado em torno dos furos do prendedor ocasionando um despendimento das telhas em sequÃncia. Nesse trabalho desenvolve-se uma mÃquina para estudos de simulaÃÃo de carregamento cÃclico em telhas metÃlicas simulando a forÃa do vento. Utilizando a tÃcnica da CorrelaÃÃo Digital de Imagem (CDI) desenvolveu-se uma metodologia que auxiliou em termos quantitativos e qualitativos a avaliaÃÃo da integridade da telha. / Shelter is an essential element for human survival. The most important changes in shelter have been in regard, on the one hand, of pre-fabrication of the material to be used, which better guarantees success at any application, and, on the other hand, of the rise of new building materials, such as laminated glass, wooden parts, plastic materials, and mainly aluminum and steel. In this context, metal roofs are praised for several reasons. They are sturdy and durable, span across wide areas, stand corrosion, and are lighter compared to ceramic tiles, which leads to savings in structure costs and ease of handling, transport, and assembly. The issue of high- speed winds, such as hurricanes and storms, often causes great damage to metal tiling. Wind damages show that the low-cycle wear fissures the roofing around the fastening holes, causing the tiles to become loose. This research developed a machine to study the simulation of cyclic loads in metal tiles by simulating wind force. By using the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique, a methodology was developed that will aid in assessing tile integrity both quantitatively and qualitatively.