Numerical–Experimental Analysis toward the Strain Rate Sensitivity of 3D-Printed Nylon Reinforced by Short Carbon Fiber

Despite the application of the Additive Manufacturing process and the ability of parts’ construction directly from a 3D model, particular attention should be taken into account to improve their mechanical characteristics. In this paper, we present the effect of individual process variables and the strain-rate sensitivity of Onyx (Nylon mixed with chopped carbon fiber) manufactured by Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), using both experimental and simulation manners. The main objective of this paper is to present the effect of the selected printing parameters (print speed and platform temperature) and the sensitivity of the 3D-printed specimen to the strain rate during tensile behavior. A strong variation of tensile behavior for each set of conditions has been observed during the quasi-static tensile test. The variation of 40 °C in the platform temperature results in a 10% and 11% increase in Young’s modulus and tensile strength, and 8% decrease in the failure strain, respectively. The variation of 20 mm·s−1 in print speed results in a 14% increase in the tensile strength and 11% decrease in the failure strain. The individual effect of process variables is inevitable and affects the mechanical behavior of the 3D-printed composite, as observed from the SEM micrographs (ductile to brittle fracture). The best condition according to their tensile behavior was chosen to investigate the strain rate sensitivity of the printed specimens both experimentally and using Finite Element (FE) simulations. As observed, the strain rate clearly affects the failure mechanism and the predicted behavior using the FE simulation. Increase in the elongation speed from 1 mm·min−1 to 100 mm·min−1, results in a considerable increase in Young’s modulus. SEM micrographs demonstrated that although the mechanical behavior of the material varied by increasing the strain rate, the failure mechanism altered from ductile to brittle failure

Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Water Quality Changes in North, Northwest and Southwest Rivers of Iran, Involving Multivariate Statistical Techniques and GIS

Surface water, especially rivers, is one of the most important water resources that play an important role in supplying water for various activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal and spatial variability of water quality parameters in three different basins, in terms of land use, at 50 hydrometric stations in 9 rivers in the period 1992-2015 by using multivariate and GIS statistical methods. In this study, factor analysis based on 10 qualitative parameters was performed to determine the most important parameters affecting the surface water quality of the study area. The results of Principal component analysis showed that the North, Northwest and Southwest basins have two significant main components with 82.38%, 79.86% and 81.60% of the total variance, respectively. Cluster analysis of hydrometric stations located in northwestern and southwestern regions was divided into two clusters and north into three clusters. In the cluster analysis, some stations in Aji Chay, Atrak and Zayanderood rivers had different water quality characteristics than other stations. These stations are located downstream of the rivers. Based on the pattern of mean water quality parameters in GIS and land use map, station 2 had the lowest values for most parameters

3D Bioprinting of Polycaprolactone-Based Scaffolds for Pulp-Dentin Regeneration: Investigation of Physicochemical and Biological Behavior

In this study, two structurally different scaffolds, a polycaprolactone (PCL)/45S5 Bioglass (BG) composite and PCL/hyaluronic acid (HyA) were fabricated by 3D printing technology and were evaluated for the regeneration of dentin and pulp tissues, respectively. Their physicochemical characterization was performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle, and compressive strength tests. The results indicated that the presence of BG in the PCL/BG scaffolds promoted the mechanical properties, surface roughness, and bioactivity. Besides, a surface treatment of the PCL scaffold with HyA considerably increased the hydrophilicity of the scaffolds which led to an enhancement in cell adhesion. Furthermore, the gene expression results showed a significant increase in expression of odontogenic markers, e.g., dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), osteocalcin (OCN), and dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP-1) in the presence of both PCL/BG and PCL/HyA scaffolds. Moreover, to examine the feasibility of the idea for pulp-dentin complex regeneration, a bilayer PCL/BG-PCL/HyA scaffold was successfully fabricated and characterized by FESEM. Based on these results, it can be concluded that PCL/BG and PCL/HyA scaffolds have great potential for promoting hDPSC adhesion and odontogenic differentiation