INTRODUCTION Indirect reduction of dia-/metaphyseal fractures with minimally invasive implant application bridges the fracture zone in order to protect the soft-tissue and blood supply. The goal of this fixation strategy is to allow stable motion at the fracture site to achieve indirect bone healing with callus formation. However, concerns have arisen that the high axial stiffness and eccentric...

Studies of the power-law relations of seismicity and earthquake source parameters based on the one-dimensional (1-D) Burridge-Knopoff’s (BK) dynamical lattice model, especially those studies conducted by Taiwan’s scientists, are reviewed in this article. In general, velocityand/or state-dependent friction is considered to control faulting. A uniform distribution of breaking strengths (i.e., the...

A parametric formulation for preliminary design of tubed-system tall buildings is presented in which some optimality criteria and practical constraints are considered. Here, a minimum compliance optimization formulation, developed by other researchers, is applied to a framed-tube structure. The tube behavior is modeled as a cantilevered box beam. Independent variable in this problem is thicknes...

A Newtonian (vectorial) approach is used to develop the governing differential equations of motion for a three layer sandwich beam in which the uniform distribution of mass and stiffness is dealt with exactly. The model allows for each layer of material to be of unequal thickness and the effects of coupled bending and longitudinal motion are accounted for. This results in an eighth order ordina...

The optimal design task of this paper seeks the distribution of two materials of prescribed amounts for maximal torsion stiffness of an infinite bar of given cross section. This example of relaxation in topology optimisation leads to a degenerate convex minimisation problem

In this study, a dynamic stiffness method for free vibration analysis of moderately thick function-ally graded material plates is developed. The elasticity modulus and mass density of the plate are assumed to vary according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents whereas Poisson’s ratio is constant. Due to the variation of the elastic properties through ...

Drilling and blasting have numerous applications in the civil and mining engineering. Due to the two major components of rock masses, namely the intact rock matrix and the discontinuities, their behavior is a complicated process to be analyzed. The purpose of this work is to investigate the effects of the geomechanical and geometrical parameters of rock and discontinuities on the rock mass blas...

The designer of a cementless hip stem in total hip replacement must find a balance between two conflicting demands. On the one hand, a stiff stem shields the surrounding bone from mechanical loading (stress shielding), which may lead to bone loss, particularly around the proximal part of the stem. Reducing the stem stiffness decreases the amount of stress shielding and hence the amount of bone ...

In an effort to prevent degeneration of articular cartilage associated with meniscectomies, both meniscal allografts and synthetic replacements are subjects of current interest and investigation. The objectives of the current study were to (1) determine whether a transversely isotropic, linearly elastic, homogeneous material model of the meniscal tissue is necessary to achieve a normal contact ...

AIMS The pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is complex but increased left ventricular (LV) diastolic stiffness plays a key role. A load-independent, non-invasive, direct measure of diastolic stiffness is lacking. The diastolic wall strain (DWS) index is based on the linear elastic theory, which predicts that impaired diastolic wall thinning reflects resist...