Straightening of a cranial base flexure observed in the midsagittal presphenoid region of mice has been postulated to play a major role in palate closure by providing the internal shelf force for palatal shelf movement. The straightening is thought to take place during the 8 h immediately preceding closure. This mechanical model assumes that straightening of the cranial base flexure is transmit...

Robot manipulators having elastic links or flexure joints have a number of advantages, especially in simplifying the control of contact with other objects. However, current simplified parametric models of flexure motion do not accurately predict the behavior of these mechanisms under large deflections. This paper presents a “smooth curvature model” of flexure behavior that describes the curvatu...

In this paper, we propose a 2-DOF parallel mechanism with flexure hinges. The kinematics and static analyses of this mechanism are studied in order to determine the kinematics properties, workspace, holding forces of the actuators and the reaction forces at the flexure hinges. These factors are useful for design process of this mechanism. The pseudo-rigid-body model (PRB model) of this mechanis...

OBJECTIVE When successive restorative procedures (e.g., porcelain veneers, interdental resin composite restorations, and endodontic treatment) are carried out on the same tooth, significant effects on crown flexure can be expected. METHOD AND MATERIALS Dentin-bonded porcelain veneers (experimental group) were assessed in vitro using functional and cyclic thermal loads. They were compared to n...

An experimental investigation on the dynamic fatigue response of dentin was conducted to examine the influence of stress rate on the strength and energy to fracture. Rectangular beams were prepared from the coronal dentin of bovine maxillary molars and subjected to four-point flexure to failure. The dentin beams were examined in the fully hydrated and dehydrated condition at stress rates (sigma...

Water drops on Nafion films caused the surface to switch from being hydrophobic to being hydrophilic. Contact angle hysteresis of >70 degrees between advancing and receding values were obtained by the Wilhelmy plate technique. Sessile drop measurements were consistent with the advancing contact angle; the sessile drop contact angle was 108 degrees . Water drop adhesion, as measured by the detac...

In this work, the waste stone sludge obtained from the granite and marble stone processing factories was used for the manufacture of artificial stones using vibratory compaction in a vacuum environment. The results obtained showed that water absorption and density increased, and the flexure, compressive, and tensile strengths decreased with increase in the content of the waste stone sludge. The...

A linear piezoelectric actuator based on the stick-slip principle is presented and tested in this paper. With the help of changeable vertical preload force flexure hinge, the designed linear actuator can achieve both large travel stick-slip motion and high-resolution stepping displacement. The developed actuator mainly consists of a bridge-type flexure hinge mechanism, a compound parallelogram ...