The plantar plate is a fibrocartilaginous tissue beneath the metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ). Plantar plate function centers around maintaining the static stability of the MTPJ, and its integrity facilitates the dynamic stabilizing functions of surrounding soft tissue structures. Injury to the plantar plate can cause significant forefoot discomfort focused around the MTPJ, swelling, and altered forefoot biomechanics from toe instability. Significant injury like either partial or complete tear of the plantar plate commonly requires surgical intervention to repair the tissue. As fibrocartilage, the plantar plate lacks an intrinsic capacity for robust healing, thus requiring a surgical repair aiming to restore proper function. Existing plantar plate repair techniques afford different perspectives for restoring plantar plate biomechanical function, though room for improvement exists for an enhanced repair. Our senior design team developed a novel approach for plantar plate repair using a two-piece snap fitting permanent implant. This novel technique was reduced to practice and required further experimental analysis of its functional capacity to inform future development. Two methodologies were used to evaluate the novel implant device designed for plantar plate repair. An implant isolated mechanical testing protocol was developed to evaluate the implant and suture construct of the repair in anatomically relevant orientations. A human cadaver tissue model protocol was employed to evaluate the integrity of the native plantar plate tissue, a simulated conventional repair, and our novel implant fixation repair. These methodologies used uniaxial tensile testing with custom test configurations to evaluate the structural integrity and properties of the implant-suture construct and simulated tissue only or tissue-repair constructs, respectively. Our results provided encouraging support for the use of mechanical testing and the continued development of this novel implant device for plantar plate repair. Additionally, qualitative outcomes from this testing revealed additional avenues to improve the novel implant device in support of further advancing the product for future use in the field of podiatric medicine. / Master of Science / The plantar plate is a soft, biological tissue that lies beneath the metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ), which comprises the ball of the foot. When injured, the plantar plate lacks capacity to fully heal the tissue, as its structural properties more closely resemble that of cartilage and ligaments, which also commonly fail to fully heal after injury. Due to the difficulties in facilitating healing and restoring its function, a plantar plate tear or rupture is commonly repaired surgically. Current methods for repairing a plantar plate tear vary, though room to enhance the overall surgical repair technique exists. Our senior design team developed a novel implant device for use in a modified surgical repair of the plantar plate, which aimed to improve upon the existing methods. This work focused on developing experimental methods to analyze and evaluate the function of this novel implant device that is relevant to the clinical application of plantar plate repairs. Two experimental setups were developed and used to analyze the function of our novel implant device. A simulated repair setup, relevant to the natural function of the plantar plate, was employed to evaluate the function of the implant and suture used in the repair. A human cadaver model experimental setup aimed to evaluate the plantar plate naturally, a conventional or existing repair, and our novel repair of a simulated torn plantar plate. The outcomes from these experiments encourage further exploration of implant product development as well as continued testing of this device in the future. Ultimately, this work has provided a foundation for the continued development of our novel implant device for plantar plate repair with the aim to bring this product to market and enhance the field of podiatric medicine.

Yes / Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) is a material which possesses advanced self-healing properties. Although the self-healing performance of ECC has been revealed in numerous studies, only small-scale, laboratory-size specimens have been used to assess it under fixed laboratory conditions and curing techniques. In order to evaluate the effect of intrinsic self-healing ability of ECC on the properties of structural-size, large-scale reinforced-beam members, specimens with four different shear span to effective depth (a/d) ratios, ranging from 1 to 4, were prepared to evaluate the effects of shear and flexural deformation. To ensure a realistic assessment, beams were cured using wet burlap, similar to on-site curing. Each beam was tested for mechanical properties including load-carrying capacity, deflection capacity, ductility ratio, yield stiffness, energy absorption capacity, and the influence of self-healing, by comparing types of failure and cracking. Self-healed test beams showed higher strength, energy absorption capacity and ductility ratio than damaged test beams. In test beams with an a/d ratio of 4 in which flexural behavior was prominent, self-healing application was highly successful; the strength, energy absorption capacity and ductility ratios of these beams achieved the level of undamaged beams. In addition, flexural cracks healed better, helping recover the properties of beams with predominantly flexural cracks rather than shear cracks. / The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Scientific and Technical Research Council (TUBITAK) of Turkey provided under Project: MAG-112M876 and the Turkish Academy of Sciences, Young Scientist Award program. The second author would also like to acknowledge the financial support of TÜBITAK for the 2219 Scholarship.

Forty ovine femurs were harvested and allocated into four testing groups; Fast-Normal, Fast- Decalcified, Slow-Normal, Slow-Decalcified. Contralateral pairings were used within these groups for closer comparison. Dynamic testing apparatus was designed and built allowing rates of strain similar to road traffic accidents to be investigated. These strain rates were achieved by using a pneumatic actuator to apply the load. Slow rate loading was achieved by testing with a commercially available mechanical testing machine at a rate of strain similar to that created by walking. Bone quality was altered by ultrasonically assisted decalcification in EDTA. Levels of mineral dissolution equivalent to the loss of bone mineral density (BMD) of a 75 year old woman were targeted. Whole bone was used for these experiments to facilitate comparison with real fracture radiographs obtained from NHS database. Fracture patterns and degree of comminution were similar between experimental and patient data. Bone is often analysed as a simple beam (engineers bending theory). This method of stress analysis was compared with a method that recognised the change in cross section over the length of the bone. Accounting for this had a highly significant effect on the calculated flexural modulus (p<0.0005).The length to depth ratio of whole bone indicates that shear forces cannot be ignored. The effect of the contribution from shear force on the deflection was investigated. After accounting for deflections due to shear, calculated normal strains agreed with literature values. Deflection due to shear was found to make a significant contribution to the deflection The effect of storage (freezing) on the mechanical properties at high strain rate was evaluated: no significant differences were found for force and deflection at failure. The main body of testing gave the following results: Normal quality bone, rate compared showed significant differences for Ultimate Stress, Ultimate Strain, Yield Strain, Flexural Modulus and Toughness. Demineralising bone resulted in no statistically significant differences between the loading rates for the Stress at failure. Yield Strain, Ultimate Strain, Flexural Modulus and Toughness did show significant differences. The fast loading tests showed significant differences when comparing quality for Stress at failure but not at Yield. Significant differences were found when comparing toughness. Slow loading tests showed significant differences between bone qualities for Stress at failure in contralateral pairs. No significant differences were found for strain or toughness. These results indicate that bone of normal quality can withstand higher than normal stresses for short durations. This ability is lost in demineralised bone. The high loading rate tests revealed closely matched strains at failure for both bone qualities, lending support to the strain based failure theory for bone at traumatic strain rates.

This thesis investigates the mechanical properties of the elastic proteins isolated by cyanogen bromide digestion from lamprey cartilages and compares them with the mammalian protein, elastin. Thermomechanical testing and measurements of the effects of hydrophobic solvents on mechanics are used to determine the energetic and entropic contributions to the mechanical properties and the role of solvent interactions. Raman microspectrometry is shown to be a valuable tool in determining the secondary structure of the proteins, their interactions with water and molecular-level effects of mechanical strain. The supramolecular structure of the proteins matrices are investigated using nonlinear microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of fibrous elastin agreed with those previously reported with elastic moduli in the region of 0.2-0.4 MPa. Elastic moduli decrease by approximately 25% with increased temperature, which was accompanied by a small decrease in hysteresis loss. In agreement with earlier findings, an entropic mechanism of elasticity became dominant only at high temperatures with a major contribution from interactions with solvent water. The lamprey proteins can be divided into two broad groups, the 'soft' branchial and pericardial cartilages resembling elastin, with linear stress-strain behaviour over a range of strains, elastic moduli in the range 0.13 MPa to 0.35 MPa, breaking strains of up to 50% and low hysteresis. Annular and piston proteins showed a very different response having much higher elastic moduli (0.27 MPa to 0.75 MPa), higher breaking strains and large hysteresis. Similarities between elastin and the lamprey matrix proteins extended to their thermomechanical behaviour with a decrease in elastic moduli and a drive towards entropic elasticity at high temperatures, although the annulus and piston were less thermally stable. Raman spectroscopy was able to detect differences between the various proteins and between elastin fibres and fragmentation products. Although no vibrational modes associated with cross-linking of the fibres could be identified, the secondary structure of dehydrated fibrous elastin was significantly different from \alpha -elastin. The former differed from previous experimental measurements, but was close to the theoretical predictions with 36% \beta -structures, 46% unordered and 18% \alpha -helix. \alpha -Elastin contained 29% \beta -structures, 53% unordered and 18% \alpha -helix. Strains of up to 60% in ligament fibre bundles resulted in no significant shifts in peak positions or in secondary structure. Polarization measurements revealed that the peptide bonds and several of the bulky side-chains re-orientated closer to the fibre axis with strain. Heating nuchal elastin fibres to 60^{\circ} C to increase the energetic component of the elasticity was associated with a 30% increase in the proportion of \beta -structures in the amide I band, a 50% increase in the amide III band, and a 50% reduction in the signal from bound water. The Raman spectra of the lamprey matrix proteins are similar both to each other and when compared to fibrous elastin. Only small differences could be detected in side-chain modes consistent with reported biochemical differences. Decomposition of the amide I band indicated that the secondary structures were also very similar to that of elastin, with a preponderance of unordered structures which probably confer the high degree of conformational flexibility necessary for entropy elasticity. Piston and annular proteins, like elastin, showed a strong interaction with water, suggesting a greater role of hydrophobic interactions in their mechanics compared to the branchial and pericardial proteins. Elastin is well known to exhibit autofluorescence. However, only the branchial protein has been reported to autofluoresce. This study shows that all four lamprey matrix proteins investigated exhibit strong autofluorescence which was subsequently exploited to image these tissues using multiphoton microscopy. Microscopic investigations revealed that the architecture of lamprey proteins differ from that of elastin. Nuchal elastin forms bundles of fibres running predominantly parallel to the direction of applied force. The arrangement in lamprey cartilage is very different forming honeycomb structures, which in the case of annular and piston cartilages, is surrounded by a dense sheath of matrix material. Dye injections revealed that the branchial and pericardial form open systems whereas in piston and annular cartilages a closed system exists. These variations in architecture are reflected in their different mechanical properties and in vivo functions.

A recently developed crystal-mechanics-based constitutive model for polycrystalline shape-memory alloys (Thamburaja and Anand [1]) is shown to quantitatively predict the in-plane anisotropy of superelastic sheet Ti-Ni to reasonable accord. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Electrical resistance and acoustic emission (AE) measurement are jointly used to monitor the degradation in CFRP laminates subjected to tensile tests. The objective of this thesis is to perform a synergertic analysis between a passive and an active methods to better access how these perform when used for Structural Health Moni- toring (SHM). Laminates with three different stacking sequences: [0]4, [02/902]s and [+45/ − 45]2s are subjected to monotonic and cyclic tensile tests. In each laminate, we carefully investigate which mechanisms of degradation can or cannot be detect- ed by each technique. It is shown that most often, that acoustic emission signals start before any electrical detection is possible. This is is explained based on the redundance of the electrical network that makes it less sensitive to localized damages. Based on in depth study of AE signals clustering, a new classification is proposed to recognize the different damage mechanims based on only two parameters: the RA (rise time/amplitude) and the duration of the signal.

Bones have a large capacity for repair and regeneration after an injury. 5-10% of the nearly 8 million fractures that occur every year in the United States do not heal properly. Bone repair and regeneration is a complex process that utilizes molecular and cellular interactions to return to its original structure. Phosphate is essential for healthy bone growth and when phosphate deficient it has been shown to impair the process of fracture healing. It is unknown if replenishing phosphate to the diet will help return the injured bone to its original properties. Some of the differences in fracture repair may be due to genetic variability that contributes to morphology of bone and fracture healing. This study was carried out to assess how genetic variability affects the process of fracture healing. To determine how genetic differences interact with phosphate deficiency fractures were generated in three different inbred mouse strain (A/J (AJ), C57BL/6J (B6), C3H/HeJ (C3)) that had previously been shown to have different endochondral bone formation. Animals were placed on a phosphate restricted diet two days prior to fracture, and was maintained for 15 days, which covered the normal duration of endochondral bone development. To determine if replenishing phosphate in the diet could recover the normal healing, phosphate was returned to the diet after 15 days. There was also control groups that were on a regular diet for the entire time of the study, which was used for comparison. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), biomechanical torsion testing, and contrast enhanced micro-computed tomography (CECT) were methods used to asses the properties of the callus over the course of fracture healing. Micro-CT and mechanical test results showed that there were significant differences within AJ, B6, and C3 strains of mice at the various post-operative day (POD) time points. Results from micro-CT data showed that as the POD time point increased there was an increase in the amount of mineralized tissue and a decrease in fracture callus. These results were confirmed by with the increase in strength measurements from mechanical testing conclusions. Further, the fracture callus is less rigid at the early time points and as the fracture callus becomes mineralized there is an increase in the rigidity measures. Other measures of mechanical properties showed that there were significant differences in the B6 and C3 strains of mice among the various POD time points and control and phosphate restricted diets. Assessing cartilage content via CECT showed that there were significant differences in the control and phosphate restricted diets at POD 14, however many of these differences were recovered at the later time points. Visualization of the fracture callus using CECT confirmed that there was diminishing cartilage present in the fracture callus. These results provide insight into the fracture healing process and much information about the return of stability and strength to the fractured bone. Taken together, the outcomes of this study indicate that the bones heal and mechanical strength is recovered once the phosphate has been added back into the diet.

Afin de fiabiliser la démarche de conception par simulation numérique des structures en composites stratifiés, l’industrie a besoin de modèles matériau dédiés pertinents et de code de calcul robustes. L’objectif de ce travail est de répondre à une partie de ces besoins : valider un mésomodèle d’endommagement des stratifiés, celui développé au LMT Cachan, pour le virtual testing. Une démarche de validation est proposée, basée sur le suivi de l’évolution des mécanismes de dégradation dans le matériau jusqu’à la rupture de l’éprouvette. Elle est ensuite appliquée au modèle sur des essais de tractions sur plaques trouées et d’indentation statique, avec études des effets d’échelle. Le premier cas test montre la capacité du modèle à reproduire le changement de mode de rupture, d’une rupture dominée par la rupture des fibres à celle dominée par le délaminage, mais souligne aussi une certaine faiblesse pour la représentation des zones d’endommagement localisées (splits). Une étude complémentaire, axée sur les mécanismes de fissuration transverse, de délaminage et de leur couplage, permet de corriger en partie le modèle et d’améliorer la compréhension du rôle de ces mécanismes dans la rupture des structures. Pour l’étude de l’indentation, une campagne expérimentale complète est construite et réalisée en collaboration avec le laboratoire ACCIS de Bristol. Elle met en évidence des évolutions de l’endommagement différentes selon l’épaisseur de la plaque, principalement en terme de délaminage. Les premières simulations réalisées montrent une capacité relative du modèle à reproduire l’apparition des dégradations mais aussi des limites numériques du code éléments finis utilisés. / In order to provide reliable numerical simulations for the design of composite structures, both accurate, physically based material models and high performance numerical codes are necessary. The aim of this thesis is to validate one of these models: the LMT damage mesomodel for laminated composites. A new validation process, based on the evolution of the degradation mechanisms in the material up to failure, is defined. This approach is then applied on two chosen test cases: open-hole tensile tests and static indentation tests, focusing on the scaling effects. The first test case highlights the model capabilities to mirror the failure mode change with ply thickness: from a fiber breaking dominated failure to a delamination dominated one. Nevertheless, it also underlines one of the model weaknesses: the bad representation of localised damage such as splits. A study of the transverse cracking, the delamination and their interaction allow to improve the capabilities of the model and to understand in depth the role of these mechanisms in the structure failure. Concerning the static indentation, a complete experimental campaign was built and performed in collaboration with the ACCIS laboratory in Bristol. It brings out different damage evolution depending on plate thickness that can be used to validate the model. The first simulations performed show that the model does not manage to mirror all the experimental observations, and underline numerical limitations of the finite elements code used.

A recent focus in the biomedical engineering field has been on developing models of in-vivo tissue responses to help better predict aortic wall mechanics, through numerical methods and simulation, towards improved prediction of aortic wall rupture. The structural influence of both collagen and elastin, integral components within the aortic wall, has been studied and is largely understood, but the contribution of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) is still unclear. While it has been suggested that the swelling properties of GAGs may participate in the regulation of residual stresses in the aortic wall, whether or not GAGs affect the mechanical properties of the aortic wall is completely unknown. The present study was divided into two experiments: Experiment 1 (n=9) utilized planar biaxial testing to characterize arterial wall mechanics in native porcine aortas. The results of Experiment 1 highlight: (i) decreased tissue thickness moving distally, away from the heart; (ii) increased stiffness from the ascending aorta to the thoracic descending aorta; (iii) no difference in morphometry or stress-strain behaviour between samples excised from the anterior, posterior, and/or left and right lateral walls. Experiment 2 (n=8) employed identical testing parameters to characterize partial and fully enzymatically GAG-depleted tissue, to determine the influence of this macromolecule on aortic wall mechanics. The results of Experiment 2 highlight: (i) GAG content in the porcine aorta does not affect tissue mechanical properties measured from biaxial testing; (ii) enzymatic removal of GAGs does not influence morphometric parameters, including thickness and area. These findings will contribute to improving the fundamental understanding of aortic tissue mechanics by helping to determine the relationship between spatial dependency and mechanical response, and the relationship between individual aortic wall constituents and the overall mechanical behaviour of the aorta.

Presently, a critical requirement in electronic assemblies is the reliability of solder joints. Accurate characterization of the mechanical behavior of solder alloys is challenging due to their micro-scale size, microstructural complexity, and complex rate-dependent mechanical behavior. This research presents two mechanical testers designed to acquire accurate mechanical response of the solder alloys. The testers allow using micro-scale test samples that replicate real solder joints in size and soldering pad metallurgy. <div>The first mechanical tester presented in this research is the micro-precision tester. It is capable of monotonic, creep and fatigue test profiles at testing temperatures between 25 and 75◦C. Using a closed-loop control scheme and an external capacitance sensor to minimize measurement of the load train compliance, the tester is capable of precision on the order of 0.1 µm. For load controlled tests, the tester is capable of precision on the order of 0.5 N. The design and construction processes are presented, including rationale for major design choices. Additionally, the development of custom squat-joint samples for use in this tester is presented. These samples allow for increased data reliability while maintaining realistic dimensions. Both validation and test data are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the micro-precision tester. </div><div>A second mechanical tester, the nano-precision tester, was developed to address the need for increased accuracy as solder geometries shrink. Again, the design choices and limitations are presented, with emphasis on improvements over the micro-precision tester. The load and displacement control are approximately and order of magnitude better than that of the micro-precision tester. Example tests are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and capabilities of the nano-precision tester. </div><div>Finally, the thesis concludes with recommendations on methods to further improve the two testers. Specifically, for the micro-precision tester, thermal expansion during high-temperature testing is a significant concern. For the nano-precision tester, both validation of the tester the capability of multi-temperature testing are future work.<br></div>