There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Freedom of design, mass customisation, waste minimisation and the ability to manufacture complex structures, as well as fast prototyping, are the main benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing. A comprehensive review of the main 3D printing methods, materials and their development in trending applications was carried out. In particular, the revolutionary applications of AM in biomedical, aerospace, buildings and protective structures were discussed. The current state of materials development, including metal alloys, polymer composites, ceramics and concrete, was presented. In addition, this paper discussed the main processing challenges with void formation, anisotropic behaviour, the limitation of computer design and layer-by-layer appearance. Overall, this paper gives an overview of 3D printing, including a survey on its benefits and drawbacks as a benchmark for future research and development.

Additive manufacturing (3D printing): A review of materials, methods, applications and challenges

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is an independent organization devoted to the development of standards.

American Society for Testing and Materials

Microneedles for drug and vaccine delivery.

At present, strong requirements in orthopaedics are still to be met, both in bone and joint substitution and in the repair and regeneration of bone defects. In this framework, tremendous advances in the biomaterials field have been made in the last 50 years where materials intended for biomedical purposes have evolved through three different generations, namely first generation (bioinert materials), second generation (bioactive and biodegradable materials) and third generation (materials designed to stimulate specific responses at the molecular level). In this review, the evolution of different metals, ceramics and polymers most commonly used in orthopaedic applications is discussed, as well as the different approaches used to fulfil the challenges faced by this medical field.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsif.2008.0151

Biomaterials in orthopaedics.

Delta T source location for acoustic emission

The mechanical characteristics of skin are extremely complex and have not been satisfactorily simulated by conventional engineering models. The ability to predict human skin behaviour and to evaluate changes in the mechanical properties of the tissue would inform engineering design and would prove valuable in a diversity of disciplines, for example the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, which currently rely upon experiments performed in animal models. The aim of this study was to develop a predictive anisotropic, hyperelastic constitutive model of human skin and to validate this model using laboratory data. As a corollary, the mechanical characteristics of human and murine skin have been compared. A novel experimental design, using tensile tests on circular skin specimens, and an optimisation procedure were adopted for laboratory experiments to identify the material parameters of the tissue. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed along three load axes on excised murine and human skin samples, using a single set of material parameters for each skin sample. A finite element model was developed using the transversely isotropic, hyperelastic constitutive model of Weiss et al. (1996) and was embedded within a Veronda–Westmann isotropic material matrix, using three fibre families to create anisotropic behaviour. The model was able to represent the nonlinear, anisotropic behaviour of the skin well. Additionally, examination of the optimal material coefficients and the experimental data permitted quantification of the mechanical differences between human and murine skin. Differences between the skin types, most notably the extension of the skin at low load, have highlighted some of the limitations of murine skin as a biomechanical model of the human tissue.

The development of accurate, predictive computational models of human tissue, such as skin, to reduce, refine or replace animal models and to inform developments in the medical, engineering and cosmetic fields, is a significant challenge but is highly desirable. Concurrent advances in computer technology and our understanding of human physiology must be utilised to produce more accurate and accessible predictive models, such as the finite element model described in this study.

An anisotropic, hyperelastic model for skin: experimental measurements, finite element modelling and identification of parameters for human and murine skin.

Composite technology in load-bearing orthopaedic implants

Hastelloy X is the trademark for a nickel-based, high-temperature superalloy that is increasingly applied in gas turbine engines because of its exceptional combination of oxidation resistance and high-temperature strength The superalloy suffers from hot cracking susceptibility, however, particularly when processed using additive manufacturing and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) This paper systematically studies for the first time the effect of post-treatment hot isostatic processing (HIP) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of LPBF-fabricated Hastelloy X, with an emphasis on fatigue performance The experimental results demonstrate that despite the very small number of remaining gas-filled micropores due to pressure counteraction, the high temperature and high pressure during the HIP process promote recrystallisation and closing of the internal microcracks and gas-free pores The HIP-processed specimens are shown to be roughly 130 MPa and 60 MPa weaker than the non-processed specimens in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength, respectively The HIP-processed Hastelloy X exhibits significant improvements in fatigue life, however: the effect of the HIP processing is apparent once the applied stress decreases This improvement in fatigue performance is attributable to the reduction in stress concentration and residual stress release caused by the HIP process The paper also studies the hot cracking mechanism and finds that intergranular microcracks generally occur along high angle grain boundaries; the interdendritic liquid pressure drop between dendrite tip and root is found to be a significant factor in the hot crack mechanism The significance of this research is in developing a comprehensive understanding of HIP processing on the fatigue behaviour of the LPBF-fabricated Hastelloy X The insights on the cracking mechanism, which presents a significant step towards using additive manufacturing to produce complex crack-free parts from this superalloy

/pdf/laser-powder-bed-fusion-of-hastelloy-x-effects-of-hot-4u9ltu309r.pdf

Laser powder bed fusion of Hastelloy X: Effects of hot isostatic pressing and the hot cracking mechanism

The mechanical properties of the skin are important in many applications, but are not well understood. This paper presents a method for measuring the mechanical properties of human skin in vivo using digital image correlation, with a finite element model that was used to optimize the material properties to obtain the best match with the model data. The skin was modelled as an Ogden hyperelastic membrane, with a tension field wrinkling model and an initial stretch identified as an additional material parameter, and the boundary conditions were the measured load and the displacements around the edge of the region of interest. Fast, reliable convergence was obtained using a Hager–Zhang non-linear conjugate gradient solver. A stochastic optimization procedure was used to identify the material parameters.
Good estimates of the material parameters could be obtained from the displacement field at a single time point. Typical material parameters were μ = 10 Pa, α = 26, and an initial strain of 0.2. These parameters were not unique; the stochastic optimization procedure gave good global convergence and an indication of the overall uncertainty in the identification of the results. It is argued that the use of the DIC technique, which generates very large amounts of data, also gave a clearer picture of the overall uncertainty.

Samuel Lewin Evans

Papers

Delta T source location for acoustic emission

An anisotropic, hyperelastic model for skin: experimental measurements, finite element modelling and identification of parameters for human and murine skin.

Composite technology in load-bearing orthopaedic implants

Laser powder bed fusion of Hastelloy X: Effects of hot isostatic pressing and the hot cracking mechanism

Measuring the mechanical properties of human skin in vivo using digital image correlation and finite element modelling