Dynamic Modes of Microcapsules in Steady Shear Flow: Effects of Bending and Shear Elasticities

The dynamics of microcapsules in steady shear flow was studied using a theoretical approach based on three variables: The Taylor deformation parameter $\alpha_{\rm D}$, the inclination angle $\theta$, and the phase angle $\phi$ of the membrane rotation. It is found that the dynamic phase diagram shows a remarkable change with an increase in the ratio of the membrane shear and bending elasticities. A fluid vesicle (no shear elasticity) exhibits three dynamic modes: (i) Tank-treading (TT) at low viscosity $\eta_{\rm {in}}$ of internal fluid ($\alpha_{\rm D}$ and $\theta$ relaxes to constant values), (ii) Tumbling (TB) at high $\eta_{\rm {in}}$ ($\theta$ rotates), and (iii) Swinging (SW) at middle $\eta_{\rm {in}}$ and high shear rate $\dot\gamma$ ($\theta$ oscillates). All of three modes are accompanied by a membrane ($\phi$) rotation. For microcapsules with low shear elasticity, the TB phase with no $\phi$ rotation and the coexistence phase of SW and TB motions are induced by the energy barrier of $\phi$ rotation. Synchronization of $\phi$ rotation with TB rotation or SW oscillation occurs with integer ratios of rotational frequencies. At high shear elasticity, where a saddle point in the energy potential disappears, intermediate phases vanish, and either $\phi$ or $\theta$ rotation occurs. This phase behavior agrees with recent simulation results of microcapsules with low bending elasticity.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure

Feature weighting techniques for CBR in software effort estimation studies: A review and empirical evaluation

Context : Software effort estimation is one of the most important activities in the software development process. Unfortunately, estimates are often substantially wrong. Numerous estimation methods have been proposed including Case-based Reasoning (CBR). In order to improve CBR estimation accuracy, many researchers have proposed feature weighting techniques (FWT). Objective: Our purpose is to systematically review the empirical evidence to determine whether FWT leads to improved predictions. In addition we evaluate these techniques from the perspectives of (i) approach (ii) strengths and weaknesses (iii) performance and (iv) experimental evaluation approach including the data sets used. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review of published, refereed primary studies on FWT (2000-2014). Results: We identified 19 relevant primary studies. These reported a range of different techniques. 17 out of 19 make benchmark comparisons with standard CBR and 16 out of 17 studies report improved accuracy. Using a one-sample sign test this positive impact is significant (p = 0:0003). Conclusion: The actionable conclusion from this study is that our review of all relevant empirical evidence supports the use of FWTs and we recommend that researchers and practitioners give serious consideration to their adoption

Morphogenesis of growing soft tissues

Recently, much attention has been given to a noteworthy property of some soft tissues: their ability to grow. Many attempts have been made to model this behaviour in biology, chemistry and physics. Using the theory of finite elasticity, Rodriguez has postulated a multiplicative decomposition of the geometric deformation gradient into a growth-induced part and an elastic one needed to ensure compatibility of the body. In order to fully explore the consequences of this hypothesis, the equations describing thin elastic objects under finite growth are derived. Under appropriate scaling assumptions for the growth rates, the proposed model is of the Foppl-von Karman type. As an illustration, the circumferential growth of a free hyperelastic disk is studied.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Skalak's extended theory of water hammer

Half a century ago Richard Skalak [see T.C. Skalak, A dedication in memoriam of Dr. Richard Skalak, Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering 1 (1999) 1-18] published a paper with the title "An extension of the theory of water hammer" [R. Skalak, An Extension of the Theory of Water Hammer, PhD Thesis, Faculty of Pure Science, Columbia University, New York, USA, 1954; R. Skalak, An extension of the theory of water hammer, Water Power 7/8 (1955/1956) 458-462/17-22; R. Skalak, An extension of the theory of water hammer, Transactions of the ASME 78 (1956) 105-116], which has been the basis of much subsequent work on hydraulic transients with fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The paper considers the propagation of pressure waves in liquid-filled pipes and the coupled radial/axial response of the pipe walls. In a tribute to Skalak's work, his paper is revisited and some of his less-known results are used to assess the dispersion of pressure waves in long-distance pipelines. Skalak's theory predicts that the spreading of wave fronts due to FSI is small, at most of the order of 10 pipe diameters. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Arris S. Tijsseling, Martin F. Lambert, Angus R. Simpson, Mark L. Stephens, John P. Vítkovský, and Anton Berganthttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622899/description#descriptio

Drop Traffic in Microfluidic Ladder Networks with Fore-Aft Structural Asymmetry

We investigate the dynamics of pairs of drops in microfluidic ladder networks with slanted bypasses, which break the fore-aft structural symmetry. Our analytical results indicate that unlike symmetric ladder networks, structural asymmetry introduced by a single slanted bypass can be used to modulate the relative drop spacing, enabling them to contract, synchronize, expand, or even flip at the ladder exit. Our experiments confirm all these behaviors predicted by theory. Numerical analysis further shows that while ladder networks containing several identical bypasses are limited to nearly linear transformation of input delay between drops, mixed combination of bypasses can cause significant non-linear transformation enabling coding and decoding of input delays.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Dynamics of Fluid Vesicles in Oscillatory Shear Flow

The dynamics of fluid vesicles in oscillatory shear flow was studied using differential equations of two variables: the Taylor deformation parameter and inclination angle $\theta$. In a steady shear flow with a low viscosity $\eta_{\rm {in}}$ of internal fluid, the vesicles exhibit steady tank-treading motion with a constant inclination angle $\theta_0$. In the oscillatory flow with a low shear frequency, $\theta$ oscillates between $\pm \theta_0$ or around $\theta_0$ for zero or finite mean shear rate $\dot\gamma_{\rm m}$, respectively. As shear frequency $f_{\gamma}$ increases, the vesicle oscillation becomes delayed with respect to the shear oscillation, and the oscillation amplitude decreases. At high $f_{\gamma}$ with $\dot\gamma_{\rm m}=0$, another limit-cycle oscillation between $\theta_0-\pi$ and $-\theta_0$ is found to appear. In the steady flow, $\theta$ periodically rotates (tumbling) at high $\eta_{\rm {in}}$, and $\theta$ and the vesicle shape oscillate (swinging) at middle $\eta_{\rm {in}}$ and high shear rate. In the oscillatory flow, the coexistence of two or more limit-cycle oscillations can occur for low $f_{\gamma}$ in these phases. For the vesicle with a fixed shape, the angle $\theta$ rotates back to the original position after an oscillation period. However, it is found that a preferred angle can be induced by small thermal fluctuations.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure

Multi-Particle Collision Dynamics -- a Particle-Based Mesoscale Simulation Approach to the Hydrodynamics of Complex Fluids

In this review, we describe and analyze a mesoscale simulation method for fluid flow, which was introduced by Malevanets and Kapral in 1999, and is now called multi-particle collision dynamics (MPC) or stochastic rotation dynamics (SRD). The method consists of alternating streaming and collision steps in an ensemble of point particles. The multi-particle collisions are performed by grouping particles in collision cells, and mass, momentum, and energy are locally conserved. This simulation technique captures both full hydrodynamic interactions and thermal fluctuations. The first part of the review begins with a description of several widely used MPC algorithms and then discusses important features of the original SRD algorithm and frequently used variations. Two complementary approaches for deriving the hydrodynamic equations and evaluating the transport coefficients are reviewed. It is then shown how MPC algorithms can be generalized to model non-ideal fluids, and binary mixtures with a consolute point. The importance of angular-momentum conservation for systems like phase-separated liquids with different viscosities is discussed. The second part of the review describes a number of recent applications of MPC algorithms to study colloid and polymer dynamics, the behavior of vesicles and cells in hydrodynamic flows, and the dynamics of viscoelastic fluids

The In Vivo Wear Resistance of 12 Composite Resins

: The in vivo wear resistance of 12 composite resins were compared with an amalgam control using the Latin Square experimental design. Sixteen edentulous patients wearing specially designed complete dentures formed the experimental population. Materials and Methods : The Michigan Computer Graphics Measurement System was used to digitize the surface of the control and composite resin samples before and after 3-month test periods to obtain wear data. The 12 composite resins selected for this investigation based on their published composite classification types were seven fine particle composites, three blends, and two microfilled composite resins. The Latin Square experimental design was found to be valid with the factor of material being statistically different at the 5% level of significance. Wear was computed as volume loss (mm 3 /mm 2 ), and all of the composites studied had more wear than the amalgam control ( P = .001). Results : After 3 months, the mean (error) of wear of the amalgam was 0.028 (0.006). Means (error) of wear for the 12 composites were ranked from most to least wear by mean wear volume loss. Conclusions : The absence of any relationship between mean wear volume loss and the volume percentage filler was confirmed by the correlation coefficient r = -0.158.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72960/1/j.1532-849X.1992.tb00419.x.pd

The Impact of Biomechanics in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Biomechanical factors profoundly influence the processes of tissue growth, development, maintenance, degeneration, and repair. Regenerative strategies to restore damaged or diseased tissues in vivo and create living tissue replacements in vitro have recently begun to harness advances in understanding of how cells and tissues sense and adapt to their mechanical environment. It is clear that biomechanical considerations will be fundamental to the successful development of clinical therapies based on principles of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine for a broad range of musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, craniofacial, skin, urinary, and neural tissues. Biomechanical stimuli may in fact hold the key to producing regenerated tissues with high strength and endurance. However, many challenges remain, particularly for tissues that function within complex and demanding mechanical environments in vivo. This paper reviews the present role and potential impact of experimental and computational biomechanics in engineering functional tissues using several illustrative examples of past successes and future grand challenges.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78125/1/ten.teb.2009.0340.pd

Effect of tube diameter and capillary number on platelet margination and near-wall dynamics

The effect of tube diameter $D$ and capillary number $Ca$ on platelet margination in blood flow at $\approx 37\%$ tube haematocrit is investigated. The system is modelled as three-dimensional suspension of deformable red blood cells and nearly rigid platelets using a combination of the lattice-Boltzmann, immersed boundary and finite element methods. Results show that margination is facilitated by a non-diffusive radial platelet transport. This effect is important near the edge of the cell-free layer, but it is only observed for $Ca > 0.2$, when red blood cells are tank-treading rather than tumbling. It is also shown that platelet trapping in the cell-free layer is reversible for $Ca \leq 0.2$. Only for the smallest investigated tube ($D = 10 \mu\text{m}$) margination is essentially independent of $Ca$. Once platelets have reached the cell-free layer, they tend to slide rather than tumble. The tumbling rate is essentially independent of $Ca$ but increases with $D$. Tumbling is suppressed by the strong confinement due to the relatively small cell-free layer thickness at $\approx 37\%$ tube haematocrit.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure