Search results for "Macroscopic scale"
showing 3 items of 13 documents
Coupled Multi-Field Continuum Methods for Porous Media Fracture
2015
The focus of the present contribution is on the numerical modelling of hydraulic fracture in fluid-saturated heterogeneous materials, which can be carried out on a macroscopic scale using extended continuum porous media theories. This accounts for the crack nucleation and propagation, deformation of the solid matrix and change in the flow of the interstitial fluid. In particular, fluid-saturated porous materials basically represent volumetrically interacting solid-fluid aggregates, which are modelled using the Theory of Porous Media. The hydraulic- or tension-induced fracture occurs in the solid matrix and is simulated using a diffusive phase-field modelling approach. This way of fracture t…
Meso-scale topological cues influence extracellular matrix production in a large deformation, elastomeric scaffold model
2018
Physical cues are decisive factors in extracellular matrix (ECM) formation and elaboration. Their transduction across scale lengths is an inherently symbiotic phenomenon that while influencing ECM fate is also mediated by the ECM structure itself. This study investigates the possibility of enhancing ECM elaboration by topological cues that, while not modifying the substrate macro scale mechanics, can affect the meso-scale strain range acting on cells incorporated within the scaffold. Vascular smooth muscle cell micro-integrated, electrospun scaffolds were fabricated with comparable macroscopic biaxial mechanical response, but different meso-scale topology. Seeded scaffolds were conditioned …
Surface properties of valine-gramicidin A at the air-water interface
1996
Abstract Fluorescence microscopy, X-ray reflectivity and ellipsometry have been applied to the study of a monolayer of valine-gramicidin A (VGA) at the air-water interface to obtain insight into the conformation and orientation of VGA, and to clarify the shoulder observed in its π - A curve (12.5–16 mN m −1 , 240 – 175 A 2 molecule −1 ). At low molecular areas, the X-ray reflectivities are consistent with formation of a single layer of tubular-shaped dimers. Fluorescence microscopy yielded homogeneous pictures suggesting that on the macroscopic scale the shoulder cannot be attributed to domain formation. Thicknesses calculated from the ellipsometric isotherm are consistent with the X-ray da…