Analysis of viscoelastic contact with normal compliance,friction and wear diffusionAnalyse d'un problème viscoélastique avec compliance normale,frottement et diffusion d'usure

We consider a quasistatic problem of frictional contact between a viscoelastic body and a moving foundation. The contact is with wear and is modeled by normal compliance and a law of dry friction. The novelty in the model is that it allows for the diffusion of the wear debris over the potential contact surface. Such kind of phenomena arise in orthopaedic biomechanics and influence the properties of joint prosthesis. We derive a weak formulation of the problem and state that, under a smallness assumption on the problem data, there exists a unique weak solution for the model. To cite this article: M. Shillor et al., C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Investigation of the heat transfer mechanism in supersonic turbulent boundary layers

A method is described for calculating turbulent Prandtl numbers from Mach number and total temperature profiles in supersonic boundary layers. The calculations are based on boundary layer measurements in the Mach number range from 3.5 to 5. The investigations clearly indicate that in addition to accurate profile measurements reliable values of shear stress and heat flux at the wall must exist, in order to be able to calculate the turbulent Prandtl number in the viscous regime of the boundary layer. For flow conditions with and without heat transfer, the derived turbulent Prandtl numbers indicate that the turbulent transport of heat decreases much faster towards the wall than the turbulent transport of momentum. The results of the analysis show that only the unequivocal qualitative result of increasing turbulent Prandtl numbers in the viscous region of the boundary layer, can be expected. The variation of the turbulent Prandtl number can be described successfully using a simple approximation, based on the mixing length concept, and is applied to the calculation of total temperature distribution using the law of the wall for compressible flow.     

Local well-posedness for a quasi-stationary droplet model

The moving boundary problem for the contact line evolution of a droplet is studied. Local existence and uniqueness of classical solutions is established.     

Dual-primal isogeometric tearing and interconnecting solvers for multipatch continuous and discontinuous Galerkin IgA equations

We present results regarding fast and robust solvers for equations arising from continuous and discontinuous Galerkin discretization of heterogeneous diffusion problems in the context of Isogeometric Analysis. The solvers considered belong to the class of non-overlapping domain decomposition methods which use tearing and interconnection strategies. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Remarks on coupled multi-scale simulations and high performance computation

To describe material behaviour more precisely than nowadays, tomorrows simulation software will include multi-scale homogenisation techniques. State of the art are various scale bridging strategies, like FE-ODE, FE-Phasefield or FE²-Method. We are dealing with the FE²-Method, see [3], [4], which gives us the possibility to take the geometric, discrete micro-structure of a material into account. Furthermore, it allows to integrate enhanced continuum mechanical models. Here, we are researching on two-scale approach with poro-mechanical coupling based on the Theory of Porous Media (TPM), for more details see [1] or [2]. The framework is demanding and need a lot of computational effort. In order to receive industrial recognition, it is necessary to decrease the computation runtime. One way to go is definitely using high performance cluster. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Advances in the field of π-conjugated 2,2':6',2"-terpyridines

This critical review summarizes the research progress made in the field of π-conjugated terpyridines within the last decade. Supramolecular materials based on metal ion complexes of 2,2':6',2"-terpyridine derivatives have found manifold potential applications-from opto-electronic devices to life science. In this contribution, synthetic strategies towards π-conjugated terpyridines and their incorporation into advanced supramolecular architectures are evaluated. Applications as photoactive species in, e.g., photovoltaic devices, polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDSs) and nanotechnology are discussed comprehensively (523 references).     

Azobenzene-containing triazatriangulenium adlayers on Au(111): structural and spectroscopic characterization

Adlayers of different azobenzene-functionalized derivatives of the triazatriangulenium (TATA) platform on Au(111) surfaces were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), gap-mode surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (gap-mode SERS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The chemical composition of the adlayers is in good agreement with the molecular structure, i.e., different chemical groups attached to the azobenzene functionality were identified. Furthermore, the presence of the azobenzene moieties in the adlayers was verified by the vibration spectra and electrochemical data. These results indicate that the molecules remain intact upon adsorption with the freestanding functional groups oriented perpendicularly to the TATA platform and thus also to the substrate surface.     

Thermal phase behavior of DMPG bilayers in aqueous dispersions as revealed by 2H- and 31P-NMR

The synthetic lipid 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-3-phosphoglycerol (DMPG), when dispersed in water/NaCl exhibits a complex phase behavior caused by its almost unlimited swelling in excess water. Using deuterium ((2)H)- and phosphorus ((31)P)-NMR we have studied the molecular properties of DMPG/water/NaCl dispersions as a function of lipid and NaCl concentration. We have measured the order profile of the hydrophobic part of the lipid bilayer with deuterated DMPG while the orientation of the phosphoglycerol headgroup was deduced from the (31)P NMR chemical shielding anisotropy. At temperatures >30 °C we observe well-resolved (2)H- and (31)P NMR spectra not much different from other liquid crystalline bilayers. From the order profiles it is possible to deduce the average length of the flexible fatty acyl chain. Unusual spectra are obtained in the temperature interval of 20-25 °C, indicating one or several phase transitions. The most dramatic changes are seen at low lipid concentration and low ionic strength. Under these conditions and at 25 °C, the phosphoglycerol headgroup rotates into the hydrocarbon layer and the hydrocarbon chains show larger flexing motions than at higher temperatures. The orientation of the phosphoglycerol headgroup depends on the bilayer surface charge and correlates with the degree of dissociation of DMPG-Na(+). The larger the negative surface charge, the more the headgroup rotates toward the nonpolar region.     

Robust hydrophobic surfaces displaying different surface roughness scales while maintaining the same wettability

A range of surfaces coated with spherical silica particles, covering the size range from nanometer to micrometer, have been produced using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) deposition. The particles were characterized both in suspension and in the Langmuir trough to optimize the surface preparation procedure. By limiting the particle aggregation and surface layer failures during the preparation steps, well-defined monolayers with a close-packed structure have been obtained for all particle sizes. Thus, this procedure led to structured surfaces with a characteristic variation in the amplitude and spatial roughness parameters. In order to obtain robust surfaces, a sintering protocol and an AFM-based wear test to determine the stability of the deposited surface layer were employed. Hydrophobization of the LB films followed by water contact angle measurements showed, for all tested particle sizes, the same increase in contact angle compared to the contact angle of a flat hydrophobic surface. This indicates nearly hexagonal packing and gives evidence for nearly complete surface wetting of the surface features.     

Control of surface chemistry, substrate stiffness, and cell function in a novel terpolymer methacrylate library

A focused library of methacrylate terpolymers was synthesized to explore the effects of varying surface chemistry and adhesive peptide ligands on cell function. The chemical diversity of methacrylate monomers enabled construction of a library of polymers in which one can systematically vary the chemical composition to achieve a wide range of contact angle, Young's modulus, and T(g) values. Furthermore, the materials were designed to allow surface immobilization of bioactive peptides. We then examined the effects of these material compositions on protein adsorption and cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation. We observed that chemical composition of the polymers was an important determinant for NIH 3T3 cell attachment and proliferation, as well as human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, and correlated directly with the ability of the polymers to adsorb proteins that mediate cell adhesion. Importantly, functionalization of the methacrylate terpolymer library with an adhesive GRGDS peptide normalized cellular responses. RGD-functionalized polymers uniformly exhibited robust attachment, proliferation, and differentiation irrespective of the underlying substrate chemistry. These studies provide a library-based approach to rapidly explore the biological functionality of biomaterials with a wide range of compositions and highlight the importance of cell and protein cell adhesion in predicting their performance.