Gerald R. Bourne

Complex Dental Structure and Wear Biomechanics in Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs

A Toothy Problem Large mammalian herbivores such as horses and bison are well known to possess a complex, grinding dentition that facilitates processing of their tough, cellulose-rich plant diet. Hadrosaurid, or duck-billed, dinosaurs also possessed complex teeth, but how this was achieved has been unknown because reptiles typically possess simple teeth. Erickson et al. (p. 98) show how Hadrosaurs evolved teeth composed of six tissues, which allowed for the development of tooth complexity rivaling, or exceeding, that of modern herbivorous mammals. The teeth in duck-billed dinosaurs were as functionally refined as those of present-day mammals. Mammalian grinding dentitions are composed of four major tissues that wear differentially, creating coarse surfaces for pulverizing tough plants and liberating nutrients. Although such dentition evolved repeatedly in mammals (such as horses, bison, and elephants), a similar innovation occurred much earlier (~85 million years ago) within the duck-billed dinosaur group Hadrosauridae, fueling their 35-million-year occupation of Laurasian megaherbivorous niches. How this complexity was achieved is unknown, as reptilian teeth are generally two-tissue structures presumably lacking biomechanical attributes for grinding. Here we show that hadrosaurids broke from the primitive reptilian archetype and evolved a six-tissue dental composition that is among the most sophisticated known. Three-dimensional wear models incorporating fossilized wear properties reveal how these tissues interacted for grinding and ecological specialization.

Mechanical characterization of contact lenses by microindentation: Constant velocity and relaxation testing.

Non-destructive methods for testing material properties allow for multiple tests to be performed on the same sample, which will speed up the design and testing process for hydrogel contact lenses. The mechanical properties of contact lenses were investigated by microindentation testing. Indenter force responses were recorded for two modes of testing: constant velocity and relaxation indentation. From these tests, we characterized the biphasic properties of a hydrogel contact lens: Youngs modulus of the solid matrix and hydraulic permeability. Measured indenter force response was fit to finite element (FE) simulation results over a range of Youngs modulus (E) and hydraulic permeability (k) over a short testing time scale (2s). Estimated hydraulic permeability, 1-5x10(-15)m(4) (Ns)(-1), was similar to previously measured values for Etafilcon A. However, values determined for Youngs modulus, 50-60kPa, were lower than previously measured.

Metallic Glass Surface Patterning by Micro-Molding

The micro-molding of bulk amorphous metal to create sub-micrometer to sub-millimeter surface features was investigated. The goal was to demonstrate the reproduction of such features in a metallic material from a master. The bulk metallic glass material was embossed between the glass transition and crystallization temperatures. Silicon wafers patterned by deep reactive ion etching were used as masters. The patterns were designed to test the effects and interactions of aspect ratios, geometry, and spatial proximity. In addition to these patterns, a master was developed to mold two-dimensional channel geometries. Comparisons between the replicated features and the molds are provided.Copyright

Combinatorial pulsed laser deposition of thin films

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is an ideal technique to be used for combinatorial approaches. By simply changing the deposition targets one can obtain alternating layers with different periodicities both vertically and laterally, along the substrate surface. By changing the laser impact area location and the number of pulses on each target used for ablation, one can grow films with a continuous variation of the chemical composition, which will be a function of the location on the substrate. To illustrate the advantages and versatility of this Combinatorial PLD (C-PLD) technique, several examples of films used in applications where more than one property should be tailored or optimized are presented. Investigations of thermo-chemical stability, chemical bonding and crystalline structure of thin films of mixtures of HfO2 and Al2O3 that are used as high-k dielectric layers in advanced C-MOS transistors is the first example, followed by a study of structural, mechanical, optical and electrical properties of mixtures of indium tin oxide and doped or pure zinc oxide that are used as transparent and conductive layers. The third example is from the deposition of multilayers of ZrC and ZrN with variable thicknesses to obtain hard coatings.

Mechanical Characterization of Contact Lenses by Microindentation: Constant Velocity and Relaxation Testing

Mechanical and fluid transport properties of soft contact lenses may influence clinical performance, e.g., on-eye movement, fitting, and wettability, and may be related to the occurrence of complications, e.g. lesions [1, 2]. In the mechanical assessment of soft hydrated materials, indentation is increasingly being used because of its nondestructive methods for testing these material properties allow for multiple tests to be performed on the same sample, which will speed up the design and testing process for hydrogel contact lenses. [3]. Contact lens hydrogels may be described as a biphasic material. The material properties governing biphasic behavior are the Young’s modulus of the solid phase, Poisson ratio’s, and hydraulic permeability which is measure of fluid conductance in porous media. Previous studies of indentation of biphasic media have been completed by Mow and coworkers [4]. Also, computational finite element (FE) models have also been developed [5].Copyright

MATERIAL PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS USING INDENTATION AND FEM

Mechanical properties of materials in small-scale applications, such as thin coatings, are often different from those of bulk materials due to the difference in the manufacturing process. Indentation has been a convenient tool to study the mechanical properties in such applications. In this paper, a numerical technique is proposed that can identify the mechanical properties by minimizing the difference between the results from indentation experiments and those from finite element analysis. First, two response surfaces are constructed for loading and unloading curves from the indentation experiment of a gold film on the silicon substrate. Unessential coefficients of the response surface are then removed based on the test statistics. Different from the traditional methods of identification, the tip geometry of the indenter is included because its uncertainty significantly affects the results. In order to validate the accuracy and stability of the method, the sensitivity of the identified material properties with respect to each coefficient is analyzed.