Ultrastructural studies of spermiogenesis in rabbit exposed to chronic fluoride toxicity

OBJECTIVE: To compare skinfold thickness measurements with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as a measure of body fat for use in a survey of children (the National Study of Health and Growth). DESIGN: Part cross-sectional, part repeated measurement study. SETTING: A junior school in Bath. SUBJECTS: 42 boys and 33 girls aged from 9 to 11 years. INTERVENTIONS: Measurements of BIA, height, weight, and triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds. RESULTS: All measurements were highly repeatable with intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.90. The level of agreement between estimates of percentage of body fat derived from prediction equations based on impedance or skinfold measurements respectively was poor: the mean difference (impedance estimate minus skinfold estimate) was 4.67% (95% range -3.47 to 12.82) for boys and 7.81% (95% range 1.27 to 14.34) for girls. The two estimates were found to correlate highly (r = 0.83 for boys and r = 0.81 for girls) because weight, used to convert estimates of fat-free mass derived from impedance to fat mass, was highly correlated with impedance and moderately highly correlated with skinfold thicknesses. The correlations of resistance (R) and (H)2/R with skinfold thicknesses were very low. There was a moderate correlation of R and H2/R with log(weight-for-height index), but lower than that of log(weight-for-height index) with each of the skinfolds. CONCLUSIONS: As currently available equations for converting impedance-based estimates of total body water to fat mass are not fully developed for use in children of varying ages, estimates of body fat calculated from skinfold thickness measurements remain preferable in epidemiological studies of children's health and growth.     

Development of a heterogeneous microstructurally based finite element model for the prediction of forming limit diagram for sheet material

A heterogeneous finite element model with randomly distributed inhomogeneities has been developed for the determination of the forming limit diagram (FLD) for thin aluminum sheet material based on the prediction of localized necking. The strength difference between the inhomogeneities and the matrix is ascertained either from the fluctuation of the experimental stress-strain curve or from a micromechanical analysis that uses a representative particle field. By changing the specimen geometry and friction conditions, different stress states (or strain paths) are achieved. A plot of the critical Oyane fracture parameter is used to identify the limit strain state. Also, a plot of equivalent plastic strain rate is used to distinguish the boundary of intense shear bands and hence to identify where to take the measurement point. Both a plane stress model and a three-dimensional (3-D) model are adopted to predict the shear banding phenomenon and hence the FLD. The predicted FLD agrees well with the measurements from a recent round robin experimental FLD involving several independent research laboratories. The Taguchi method is applied to assess how the various parameters involved in the heterogeneous model affect the calculated forming limit strain.     

TEM study of microstructure development during low-cycle fatigue of an overaged Al-Mg-Si alloy

The evolution of dislocation structure during room-temperature, uniaxial, low-cycle fatigue of an overaged Al-Mg-Si alloy is studied. Ageing at 450°C produces a fine dispersion of Mg₂Si precipitate particles. During fully reversed strain-controlled cyclic tests, these fine particles restrict deformation to local regions and a stable dislocation substructure is developed early in fatigue life. Substructural observations of hardening and saturation by transmission electron microscopy reveal extensive dislocation band formation on Mg₂Si precipitate rods. Various microstructural features such as configuration of tangled dislocations, dislocation cells, precipitate morphologies, sizes, precipitate-free zones, etc., have been examined during cyclic hardening and saturation. The results have been analysed in terms of kinematic and isotropictype microstructural mechanisms.     

Plastic instability in dual-pressure tube-hydroforming process

The tube-hydroforming process has become an indispensable manufacturing technique in recent years. Successful tube hydroforming requires bulging to take place without causing any type of instability such as bursting, wrinkling or buckling. The dual-pressure tube-hydroforming process was introduced to achieve a favorable tri-axial stress state in the deformation process. In this paper, the effect of applying counter pressure on plastic instability of thin-walled tubes is analyzed. It is concluded that in dual-pressure tube hydroforming, the onset of plastic instability is delayed and the ductility of the metal is increased.