The mechanical energy exchanges between components of a muscle-tendon complex, i.e. the contractile element (CE) and the series elastic element (SEE), and the environment during stretch-shorten cycles were examined. The efficiency of the storage and release of series elastic energy (SEE efficiency) and the overall mechanical efficiency of the rat gastrocnemius muscle (N = 5) were determined for...

The mechanical efficiency of mouse fast- and slow-twitch muscle was determined during contractions involving sinusoidal length changes. Measurements were made of muscle length, force production and initial heat output from bundles of muscle fibres in vitro at 31 degrees C. Power output was calculated as the product of the net work output per sinusoidal length cycle and the cycle frequency. The ...

This study develops thermofluidic pump technology that is powered by heat, rather than by electrical or mechanical power. The objective is to improve the performance of heat-recovery by Organic Rankine Cycles, by using a recently-proposed thermofluidic pump. The thermofluidic pump promises low-cost, high-reliability, and, since it does not consume any of the power produced by the expander, impr...

in this study, a simulation of tire–soil interaction model was considered with special view to two-dimensional (2-d) fem model of carcass. coefficients of mechanical behavior of silty-loam soil were accurately measured to obtain an effective simulation. the results of simulation which was implemented in matlab7, showed that the radial-ply tire had greater tractive efficiency than bias tire at t...

This study investigated the influence of cycle frequency and workload on muscle coordination and the ensuing relationship with mechanical efficiency and power output of human limb movement. Eleven trained cyclists completed an array of cycle frequency (cadence)-power output conditions while excitation from 10 leg muscles and power output were recorded. Mechanical efficiency was maximized at inc...

Objective: To investigate the course of mechanical effiiency of handrim wheelchair propulsion during rehabilitation f subjects with (in)complete paraplegia and tetraplegia. Design: Subjects were tested at the start of active rehabiliation (t1), 3 months later (t2), and when discharged from npatient rehabilitation (t3). They performed two 3-minute subaximal treadmill exercise blocks in a wheelch...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of the system tilt and back recline angles on the biomechanics of wheelchair propulsion for a group of older, disabled patients. It was hypothesized that increasing both the system tilt and backrest recline angles would have a positive effect on the biomechanical efficiency of manual wheelchair propulsion. DESIGN Three kinetic variables were estimated duri...

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is one way to improve productivity in all manufacturing companies and this is truer in mechanical Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Nevertheless the implementation of a PLM system is not an easy thing for such companies. SMEs have lots of difficulties to create the right information model in order to improve design efficiency. In this paper we propose a PLM...