Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is known to be a highly reliable tool for structural analysis, but this is usually conducted offline. Online use of FEA is usually out of the question because it is highly demanding in terms of computing time. We show in this report how the Cartesian stiffness matrix of robotic structures of a certain class can be computed online with FEA support. The procedure is ...

Transfer matrices are used widely for the dynamic analysis of engineering structures, increasingly so for static analysis, and are particularly useful in the treatment of repetitive structures for which, in general, the behaviour of a complete structure can be determined through the analysis of a single repeating cell, together with boundary conditions if the structure is not of infinite extent...

Fast algorithms for applying finite element mass and stiffness operators to the B-form of polynomials over d-dimensional simplices are derived. These rely on special properties of the Bernstein basis and lead to stiffness matrix algorithms with the same asymptotic complexity as tensor-product techniques in rectangular domains. First, special structure leading to fast application of mass matrice...

Tissue stiffening is a hallmark of fibrotic disorders but has traditionally been regarded as an outcome of fibrosis, not a contributing factor to pathogenesis. In this study, we show that fibrosis induced by bleomycin injury in the murine lung locally increases median tissue stiffness sixfold relative to normal lung parenchyma. Across this pathophysiological stiffness range, cultured lung fibro...

RATIONALE Mechanisms underlying diastolic dysfunction need to be better understood. OBJECTIVE To study the role of titin in diastolic dysfunction using a mouse model of experimental heart failure induced by transverse aortic constriction. METHODS AND RESULTS Eight weeks after transverse aortic constriction surgery, mice were divided into heart failure (HF) and congestive heart failure (CHF)...