PET har under lång tid använts för flasktillverkning eftersom den är lätt, har goda barriäregenskaper och kan enkelt bearbetas industriellt. På senare tid har miljömedvetenheten ökat i samhället och därmed efterfrågan på återvunnet material, däribland PET-flaskor. Redan idag tillverkas flaskor med helt återvunnen PET.  Återvunnen PET har dock kvalitetsproblem. Därför uppstår frågan hur materialegenskaperna hos 100% återvunna PET-flaskor påverkas av upprepade återvinningscykler.  I den här rapporten undersöks hur den kemiska strukturen och egenskaperna förändras hos materialen allt eftersom fler återvinningscykler genomförs. Tre olika återvunna PET-material används för att ge ett bredare undersökningsunderlag och dessa tre material jämförs sedan sinsemellan samt med jungfrulig PET (icke-återvunnen PET) som referens.  Egenskaperna analyseras med DSC för att ge information om termiska egenskaper, ATR-FTIR utförs för att detektera nedbrytning och förändring i den kemiska strukturen, dragprovning görs för att se hur återvinningen påverkar de mekaniska egenskaperna hos materialen och slutligen analyseras även den inneboende viskositeten hos de återvunna materialen.  Examensarbetet visar på en markant minskning av inneboende viskositet med antalet återvinningscykler. Dessutom kan viss nedbrytning hos den kemiska strukturen ses via ATR-FTIR fastän inte så tydligt. Även en tendens till minskad kristallinitet med återvinning kan ses med DSC. En minskning i kristallinitet möjliggör produktion av mer transparenta flaskor, vilket ofta är eftertraktat. Emellertid får materialet försämrade barriäregenskaper. Dock krävs mer forskning för att kunna dra några slutsatser gällande materialegenskaper i industriell skala. / PET has been used in bottle production for a long time since it is lightweight, easily processable and has good barrier properties. In recent years, the awareness of environmental issues has increased and thereby the demand for recycled materials, including PET bottles. Already today PET bottles with 100% recycled PET are produced. However, recycled PET bottles have quality problems. Thereby, the question arises how the material properties of 100% recycled PET bottles are affected when subjected to multiple recycling loops.  In this report the changes in chemical structure and material properties of the materials are investigated as more recycling loops are performed. Three different recycled PET materials are used to give a broader base of information. These materials are compared to each other and to virgin PET (not recycled PET) as a reference.  The materials are analysed with DSC to give information about the thermal properties, ATR-FTIR to detect changes in the chemical structure, tensile testing to see how the recycling affects the mechanical properties of the material and finally the intrinsic viscosity is analysed for the recycled materials.  In this master thesis a clear decrease in intrinsic viscosity with increasing number of recycling loops can be observed. In addition, some degradation of the chemical structure can be seen through ATR-FTIR, although not very clearly. Also, a decrease in crystallinity with the number of recycling loops can be seen from DSC. A decrease in crystallinity enables production of more transparent bottles, which is often desired, although the material will have reduced barrier properties. However, more research is required to draw any conclusions regarding the material properties on an industrial scale.

Återvinning och insamling av PET-flaskor startade redan 1994 i Sverige och är en av de grundläggande återvinningsindustrierna.Teknologin har ständigt utvecklas sedan dess och vi har nu nya återvinningsmetoder som kan säkerställa PET-material som uppnår livsmedelskvalitet. Dessutom produktionsmetoder så som Solid-State polymerisation, vilket möjliggör flaska-till-flaska mantrat som genomsyrar Returpack.Med den globala klimatutmaningen vi har framför oss så är intresset i återvinning minskning i användning av fossila bränslen väldigt intressant i många industrier.PET-industrin är en av dessa, där både dryck företag och flasktillverkare vill tillverka flaskor med högre andel återvunnet PET-material. Detta kan redan noteras ute på marknaden, där det finns flaskor tillverkade från 100% återvunnen PET. I denna avhandling har vi undersökt effekten av halten återvunnet material har på både mekaniska och kemiska egenskaper. Effekten av antalet återvinnings-cykler har också blivit undersökt.En labb-version av den återvinningsprocess som används kommersiellt i Sverige av Veolia PET utfördes. Fyra cykler av återvinningsprocessen genomfördes på Virgin PET, vilket resulterade i satserna, krPET-1 till krPET-4. Från varje sats tillverkades hundbens-replikat via formsprutning med olika fraktioner: 25, 50 och 100% återvunnen PET. Alla replikat karakteriserades med instrument och metoder så som dragprovning, FT-IR, DSC och inre viskositet.Från en miljösynpunkt finns det definitiva och redan konstaterade fördelar med en ökning av rPET fraktionen i PET-flaskor. Problem under tillverkningen av replikat ledde till små samplingsstorlekar. Som ett resultat gick det ej att dra några slutsatser från de potentiella nackdelarna som en högre rPET fraktion skulle kunna innebära. / The recycling and collection of PET bottles has a long tradition in Sweden dating back to 1994 and is one of the staple recycling industries.Technology has advanced since then, with new recycling processes to assure food grade certified recycled PET and manufacturing processes such as Solid-State polymerization to enable the bottle-to-bottle mantra. Amidst global warming and climate crisis, the interest in recycling and reducing the use of fossil fuel to manufacture new bottles is ever-growing. As a result, manufacturers and breweries want bottles manufactured with higher fractions of recycled PET, and there are already bottles out on the market made from 100% recycled PET. In this thesis, the effect that the fraction of recycled PET may have on the mechanical and chemical properties of the final product was tested. Also, the effect that several recycling cycles may have on the product was tested.A lab-scale version of the recycling process used commercially in Sweden by Veolia PET were carried out. Four cycles of the process were carried out on virgin PET material, resulting in material batches krPET-1 to krPET-4. Dog bone samples from each recycled batch were manufactured via injection moulding with 25, 50 and 100% rPET fractions. All samples were characterized with various instruments and methods such as FT-IR, Tensile testing, DSC, and intrinsic viscosity testing.From an environmental standpoint, there are clear advantages to an increase in rPET fraction in PET-bottles. Due to issues with manufacturing and the production of samples, only a small sample size was acquired. All the analyses suffered, as a result, making it hard to draw any definite conclusions regarding potential disadvantages with a higher rPET fraction.

This project addresses characterization of the material properties of aortic tissue. Understanding of these properties is important for a variety of studies including tissue engineering, effects of aging and diseases, stents engineering, and traumatic aorta rupture. The goal of the presented research was to characterize the stress-strain relationship of aorta in dynamic oscillatory biaxial loading. A setup was developed that supplied pressure loading from the physiological to sub-failure levels (between 7 and 76 kPa) to porcine aorta at frequencies ranging from 0.50Hz to 5.00Hz. Samples tested were constrained at both ends while the deformation and the pressure were recorded. Volumetric strain versus pressure was used to characterize the structural behavior of the material which showed frequency dependency and hysteresis indicating viscoelastic response. An offset method was developed to account for drifting behavior exhibited by some of the samples. The structural behavior of aorta was modeled using a quasi-linear viscoelastic (QLV) creep theory. The QLV model included a logarithmic steady state elastic function v = 0.663 +/- 0.040 + 0.241 +/- 0.011 ln(P) for pressure in kPa, and a Prony series creep function ( J0 = 0.472 +/- 0.021, J2 = 0.109 +/- 0.060, J3 = 0.419 +/- 0.056). Modeling results were then used to determine the relationships between the circumferential and longitudinal stresses and strains of the material. The results exhibited that the stress in the transverse direction was about 1.5 times larger than in the axial direction. However, in the axial direction material was stiffer and the deformation was 30% less. The relaxation function of the material was determined by linearizing the non-linear component of the QLV model and applying to it the linear viscoelastic theory. Furthermore, literature comparison revealed that aorta's creep function, as well as its elastic modulus, is within the range of what has been reported in the literature. In conclusion, an experimental model was developed that can be used to predict the behavior of porcine aorta under physiological and sub-failure conditions at quasi-static and dynamic loading. / Mechanical Engineering

Everyday ecologically relevant tasks that affect organismal fitness, such as foraging, reproduction, predator avoidance, and escape responses, rely upon successful locomotion. The effectiveness of animal locomotion depends on many underlying factors, such as the morphology of the locomotor limbs, which evolved to fulfill specific locomotor tasks. Besides morphology, the material properties of the limbs also play a crucial role in locomotion. The skeletal structures of locomotor limbs must be able to withstand the repeated stresses that come with locomotion, either on land or underwater, as they use their limbs to generate propulsive forces. The natural environment animals move in is complex and dynamic, as various conditions crucial to locomotor performance can change unexpectedly. Perturbations to locomotor stability can take different forms, such as elevation changes, obstacles, substrate changes, and slipping. To maintain stable locomotor performance in these environments, animals rely on locomotor control mechanisms to counteract destabilizing effects of locomotor perturbations. In this Dissertation, I investigated the biomechanical control mechanisms and morphological adaptations during locomotion in challenging locomotor scenarios. Over the course of three chapters, the goals were to: 1) explore the effects of limb loss on a side-ways running sprint specialist, the Atlantic ghost crab, 2) determine the response and control mechanisms that allow ghost crabs overcome slip perturbations, and 3) to describe the pelvic morphology of bottom-walking Antarctic plunderfish and compare the pelvic morphologies among multiple species of nothenioids that do not bottom-walk. This study demonstrates the robustness of Atlantic ghost crabs to limb loss and slip perturbations. Paired limb removals resulted in a pattern of kinematic adjustments, which reduced locomotor performance by up to 25%, which was dependent on specific limbs being lost. I suggest that these limbs serve more important limb functions that can’t be replaced by the remaining limbs, however the loss of these particular limbs also results in re-patterning of limb relationships, which may reveal a neural component that may be the cause of decreased locomotor performance. Slip perturbations on the other hand were found to not have any significant effects on the locomotor performance of ghost crabs. Kinematics remained constant as ghost crabs traversed the slip surface, suggesting that ghost crabs may rely on feedforward control to overcome slip perturbations, however further studies measuring neural activity are required to confirm our finding. Most importantly though this chapter demonstrates and corroborates the role of momentum and how it allows animals to overcome perturbations. The last chapter investigated the pelvic morphology and material properties of fin rays in bottom walking fish. The Antarctic plunderfish was found to possess high flexural stiffness in its pelvic fin rays, which likely facilitate the bottom walking behavior in this species. Other, non-bottom walking notothenioids did not have fin rays of similar stiffness. Pelvic plate morphology was not different between species, however there were stark differences in mineralization. The bottom-walking fish had higher bone mineral density compared to the other species analyzed in this chapter. I also found mineralization patterns which seem to align with muscle fiber alignment of the major pelvic muscles, suggesting that these regionalized increases in stiffness provide stability while allowing for a lightweight pelvic plate. / Biology

According to data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the waiting list of organ transplantation as of April 2021 is approximately 107,550 out of which 90,908 patients are waiting for a kidney and 11,871 are waiting for a liver. In 2020, only 39,000 transplants were performed. A promising potential solution to this organ shortage crisis is rapid development of drugs for end-stage kidney and liver failure and the fabrication of organs using additive biomanufacturing (Bio-AM) processes. While progress toward industrial-scale production of 3D-bioprinted tissue models and organs remains hindered by various biological and tissue engineering challenges, such as vascularization and innervation, quality Bio-AM is impeded by lack of integrated process monitoring and control strategies. This dissertation aims to address the compelling need to incorporate sensing and control with Bio-AM processes, which are currently open-loop processes and improve the scalability and reliability of additively biomanufactured products. The specific aim is to develop a closed loop-controlled additive biomanufacturing process capable of fabricating 3D-bioprinted biological constructs (mini-tissues) of controlled mechanical properties. The proposed methodology is based on the use of embedded sensors and real-time material property sensing for feedback control of the bioprinted constructs mechanical property. There are three objectives of this dissertation: (1) experimenting and modeling the processes to understand the causal effect of process-material interactions on Bio-AM defects, (2) use of sensors to detect defects during printing, (3) prevention of the propagation of defects through closed-loop process control. This will help us understand the fundamentals of the bio-physical process interactions that govern the quality of printed biological tissue through empirical investigation of the sensor-based data This will also provide us with a real-time monitoring, closed-loop quality control strategy to prevent the propagation of quality defects by executing corrective actions during the whole duration of the printing process. / Doctor of Philosophy / As of April 2021, there are 107,550 patients on the national transplant list out of which approximately 39,000 patients received a transplant. Simultaneously, drug development remains an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. These burden on the public and healthcare system are expected to further increase compounded by the rapidly aging population in the United States with 80 million people expected to be older than 65 years old by 2040. Additive biomanufacturing processes, commonly referred to as 3D bioprinting processes, are automated biofabrication processes that offer great potential toward manufacturing future therapeutics and models for drug discovery. Despite all the benefits and the versatility that 3D printing provides, it does not come without its own shortcomings. Additive biomanufacturing is traditionally an open-loop process, meaning the process parameters are not adjusted during the biofabrication process making it challenging to detect and correct defects during processing and achieve high reproducibility and product quality. While the dimensional characteristics and material properties are important quality signatures of a cell-based products, there are additional signatures associated with the cell quality. Some of these quality attributes include cell viability, cell proliferation, metabolic activity, morphology, and gene expression profile. Given the clinical importance and invasive nature of bio-products such as scaffolds for tissue regeneration and stem cell therapy, rigorous approaches for characterization, monitoring, and control of quality are critical to future additive bio-manufacturing paradigms. In particular, the elastic modulus of the extracellular matrix has been found to have an influence on the cell morphology, proliferation, and differentiation process. Hence, it is an excellent parameter to monitor as a measure of tissue quality. However, the traditional techniques used to characterize tissue elastic modulus are low-throughput, offline techniques and face challenges with tissue integration. Thus, there is a need for integrated sensors that can measure the modulus of tissues during 3D bioprinting. This dissertation aims to address some of these issues by developing a multi-material 3D printing and pick-and-place approach to develop smart tissue cultureware and designing a tissue integrated closed-loop feedback sensor system for polymerization of hydrogels.

Computational micromechanics analysis of carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposites, containing aligned nanotubes, is performed using the mesh independent intrinsic extended finite element method (IXFEM). The IXFEM employs a localized intrinsic enrichment strategy to treat arbitrary discontinuities defined through the level-set method separate from the problem domain discretization, i.e. the finite element (FE) mesh. A global domain decomposition identifies local subdomains for building distinct partition of unities that appropriately suit the approximation. Specialized inherently enriched shape functions, constructed using the moving least square method, enhance the approximation space in the vicinity of discontinuity interfaces, maintaining accuracy of the solution, while standard FE shape functions are used elsewhere. Comparison of the IXFEM in solving validation problems with strong and weak discontinuities against a standard finite element method (FEM) and analytic solutions validates the enriched intrinsic bases, and shows anticipated trends in the error convergence rates. Applying the IXFEM to model composite materials, through a representative volume element (RVE), the filler agents are defined as individual weak bimaterial interfaces. Though a series of RVE studies, calculating the effective elastic material properties of carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposite systems, the benefits in substituting the conventional mesh dependent FEM with the mesh independent IXFEM when completing micromechanics analysis, investigating effects of high filler count or an evolving microstructure, are demonstrated. / Master of Science

Heat transfer systems contain many sources of nonlinearity including temperature dependent material properties, radiation boundary conditions, and internal source terms. Despite progress in numerical simulations, producing accurate models that can predict these complex behaviors are still encumbered by lengthy processing times. Accurate models can be produced quickly by utilizing projection Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) techniques. For discretized systems, the Singular Value Decomposition technique is the preferred approach but has had limited success on treating nonlinearities. In this research, the treatment of nonlinear temperature dependent material properties was incorporated into a ROM. Additional sources of nonlinearities such as radiation boundary conditions, temperature dependent source heating terms, and complex geometry were also integrated. From the results, low conductivity, highly nonlinear material properties were predicted by the ROM within 1% of full order models, and additional nonlinearities were predicted within 8%. A study was then done to identify initial snapshots for use in developing a ROM that can accurately predict results across a wide range of inputs. From this, a step function was identified as being the most accurate and computationally efficient. The ROM was further investigated by a discretization study to assess computational gains in both 1D and 3D models as a function of mesh density. The lower mesh densities in the 1D and 3D ROMs resulted in moderate computational times (up to 40 times faster). However, highly discretized systems such as 5000 nodes in 1D and 125000 nodes in 3D resulted in computational gains on the order of 2000 to 3000 times faster than the full order model. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the main challenges in using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is to specify the correct input parameter values. In general, the models are sensitive to the input parameter values and accurate results can only be achieved if the correct values are specified. For the linear contact model, micro parameters such as the particle density, stiffness, coefficient of friction, as well as the particle size and shape distributions are required. Thus, there is a need for a procedure to accurately calibrate these parameters before any attempt can be made to accurately model a complete bulk materials handling system. Since the DEM is often used to model applications in the mining and quarrying industries, a calibration procedure was developed for materials that consist of relatively large (up to 40 mm in size) particles. A coarse crushed aggregate was used as the test material. Using a specially designed large scale shear box, the confined Young’s Modulus and internal friction angle of the material were measured by means of the confined compression test and the direct shear test respectively. The bulk (macro) density and porosity were also measured. The particle size distribution was measured while visual inspection was used to identify the different particle shapes. DEM models of the experimental set-up were developed and the input parameter values were varied iteratively until a close correlation between the experimental and numerical results was achieved. The resulting set of input parameter values were then verified through a series of anchor pull-out and angle of repose experiments and simulations. A good correlation between the experimental and numerical results was observed. In a study, independent of the calibration process, a half fraction factorial design was implemented to quantify the effect of the input parameter values on the bulk properties and to construct multiple linear regression models that relate the parameters to the bulk properties. The results were found to be in accordance with expected bulk behaviour, and can be used to develop advanced DEM calibration strategies. Based on the project outcomes, it was concluded that the developed calibration procedure performed satisfactorily and that the calibrated input parameters allow for the accurate modelling of the coarse aggregate. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die groot uitdagings in die gebruik van die Diskreet Element Metode (DEM) is om die korrekte invoer parameterwaardes te spesifiseer. Die modelle is in die algemeen sensitief vir die invoer parameterwaardes, en akkurate resultate kan slegs verkry word indien die korrekte waardes gespesifiseer word. Mikroparameters soos partikeldigtheid, styfheid, wrywingskoëffisiënt, die partikelgrootte verspreiding asook die partikelvorm verspreiding, word benodig vir die lineêre kontakmodel. ’n Prosedure word dus benodig om hierdie parameters akkuraat te kalibreer alvorens ’n volledige korrelagte materiaalhanteringstelsel akkuraat gemodelleer kan word. Aangesien die DEM gereeld in die modellering van myn- en gruisgroefbedryf toepassings gebruik word, is ’n kalibrasieprosedure ontwikkel vir materiaal wat bestaan uit relatief groot (tot 40 mm in grootte) partikels. Grofgebreekte klippe is as toetsmateriaal gebruik. Deur gebruik te maak van ’n spesiaal ontwerpte grootskaal-skuifboks is die ingeperkte Young se Modulus en die interne wrywingshoek van die materiaal gemeet deur middel van die ingeperkte kompressietoets en die direkte skuiftoets onderskeidelik. Die makro-digtheid en poreusheid is ook gemeet. Die partikelgrootte verspreiding is gemeet terwyl visuele inspeksie gebruik is om die verskillende partikelvorms te identifiseer. DEM modelle van die eksperimentele opstelling is ontwikkel en die invoer parameterwaardes is herhaaldelik gewysig totdat ’n goeie korrelasie verkry is tussen die eksperimentele en numeriese resultate. Die gevolglike stel invoer parameterwaardes is daarna geverifieer deur ’n reeks ankeruittrek- en natuurlike helling eksperimente en simulasies. In ’n studie, onafhanklik van die kalibrasieproses, is die half-fraksie faktoriaalontwerp geïmplementeer om die invoer parameterwaardes se effek op die makro eienskappe te kwantifiseer en om meervoudige lineêre regressiemodelle te ontwikkel wat die parameters met die makro eienskappe verbind. Die resultate was in ooreenstemming met die verwagte makro gedrag en kan gebruik word om gevorderde DEM kalibrasie-strategieë te ontwikkel. Daar is tot die gevolg gekom dat, gebaseer op die projekresultate, die ontwikkelde kalibrasieprosedure bevredigend presteer en dat die gekalibreerde invoer parameters die akkurate modellering van die grofgebreekte klippe toelaat.

Im September 2015 fand das 8. Symposium „Experimentelle Untersuchungen von Baukonstruktionen“ an der TU Dresden statt. Der inhaltliche Bogen spannte sich vom DAfStb-Sachstandbericht zur Festlegung historischer Kennwerte von Betonen und Stählen über baudynamische Untersuchungen, neue Messmethoden bis zum Bauwerksmonitoring. Berichte von Projekten zur experimentellen Traglastbestimmung rundeten das vielfältige Programm ab.

The objective of this thesis was to investigate the role of hydroxyapatite and silicate-substituted hydroxyapatite synthetic bone graft substitute (SBG) material properties in modulating the processes of protein adsorption and desorption, and their combined role in the subsequent regulation of cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation on the surfaces of these materials in vitro. As a result of their purported role in promoting osteogenic behaviour in vivo the materials parameters selected for investigation were chemistry (stoichiometric hydroxyapatite (HA) versus 0.8wt% silicate-substituted hydroxyapatite (SA)) and strut porosity (20% versus 30% strut porosity). Cell attachment and response to different SBG was assessed to samples in the ‘as received’ condition as well as after a series of sequentially varied pre-treatments with solutions of phosphate buffered saline or cell culture media either unsupplemented or in combination with mixed serum proteins and/or Fibronectin (Fn). This enabled investigation of the effect of sample chemistry and strut porosity on mixed serum protein interactions and Fn adsorption under both competitive and non-competitive conditions, and the study of subsequent regulation of cell attachment and response as a consequence of pre-treatment. Results showed that serum protein interactions were key to modulation of cell response to chemistry, and there was evidence that for Fn this may be related to conformational changes in the adsorbed protein rather than its level of enrichment in the protein interlayer. In terms of the materials properties investigated strut porosity was found to be the most dominant factor in the regulation of cell response, where SBG with 30% strut porosity promoted human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) osteoblastic differentiation. Moreover hMSC response to SBG with 30% strut porosity seemed to be less sensitive to pre-treatment. In conclusion, the results of these experiments indicate that strut porosity more directly influences the cellular response to HA and SA BGS than chemistry in vitro. Moreover, the role that Fn and other serum proteins have in regulating this response is dependent on the physiological environment and BGS chemistry.