An automated sensor has been developed for use in paper manufacturing and for demonstration on a full scale paper machine during commercial operation. This laser ultrasonic sensor provides non-contact and on-line measurement of the elastic properties of paper and paperboard. It was tested on a pilot web handler at web speeds up to 12.7 m/s. Measurements of flexural rigidity and out-of-plane she...

A well-known problem in elasticity consists in placing two linearly elastic materials (of different shear moduli) in a given plane domain Ω, so as to maximize the torsional rigidity of the resulting rod; moreover, the proportion of these materials is prescribed. Such a problem may not have a classical solution as the optimal design may contain homogenization regions, where the two materials are...

There are a number of parameters influencing the dynamic and seismic response of bridges. Of these, two important parameters warranting special notice include: the properties of the neoperenes in the state of connection between girders and columns and the shear stiffness of underlying soil in the level of bridge substructure’s connectivity to the ground. In this paper, the effects of these tw...

An unconsolidated, saturated marine sediment consists of a more or less loose assemblage of mineral grains in contact, with seawater in the interstices. It is postulated that the two-phase medium possesses no skeletal frame, implying that the elastic rigidity modulus of the material is zero. A theory of wave propagation in such a sediment is developed, in which the medium is treated as a fluid ...

We compare the elastic response of spring networks whose contact geometry is derived from real packings of frictionless discs, to networks obtained by randomly cutting bonds in a highly connected network derived from a well-compressed packing. We find that the shear response of packing-derived networks, and both the shear and compression response of randomly cut networks, are all similar: the e...

We compare the elastic response of spring networks whose contact geometry is derived from real packings of frictionless discs, to networks obtained by randomly cutting bonds in a highly connected network derived from a well-compressed packing. We find that the shear response of packing-derived networks, and both the shear and compression response of randomly cut networks, are all similar: the e...

Hematocrit and red cell size are important factors for the transport of blood platelets toward subendothelium in flowing blood. We report that red cell deformability also influences platelet transport. Red cell deformability was estimated with Couette-flow viscosimetry at a shear rate of 130 s-1 and expressed as a 'T' factor--a dimensionless parameter relating the relative viscosity and the hem...

Mechanotransduction is known as the cellular mechanism converting insoluble biophysical signals in the local cellular microenvironment (e.g. matrix rigidity, external mechanical forces, and fluid shear) into intracellular signalling to regulate cellular behaviours. While microfluidic technologies support a precise and independent control of soluble factors in the cellular microenvironment (e.g....