Microcracking and porosity in calcium phosphates and the implications for bone tissue engineering

Calcium phosphates including hydroxyapatite (HA) have been widely studied as bone scaffold materials. However their mechanical properties are highly variable and may be a function of thermal expansion anisotropy (TEA) induced stresses and microcracking. There is confusion concerning the mechanisms and microscopic identification of microcracks in HA. This study presents clear evidence of microcracking from micrographs of as-sintered HA surfaces which avoids the complications of identifying TEA-induced microcracks on fracture surfaces. Additionally, the existing literature of TEA-induced microcracking is briefly reviewed and pertinent papers involving likely microcracking in HA are analyzed. The recent realization in the biomedical literature notes that microcracks are of critical importance in remodeling and repair of damaged bone tissue. Hence, the similarities between microcracking in HA used for scaffolds in bone tissue engineering and that in the normal bone repair process is of importance in designing HA scaffolds with improved mechanical properties and biocompatibility.     

Rapid evaluation of alkali-silica reactivity of aggregates using a nonlinear resonance spectroscopy technique

A new nonlinear acoustic technique — Nonlinear Impact Resonance Acoustic Spectroscopy (NIRAS) — is developed and used to characterize the alkali-reactivity of different aggregates. Cementitious materials such as mortar and concrete exhibit a hysteretic and nonlinear elastic behavior in their constitutive relations. This hysteretic nonlinearity is associated with interfacial debonding between the different constituents, and it changes with the progress of damage such as that induced by the alkali-silica reaction (ASR). One of the consequences of the hysteretic nonlinear property of these materials is the decrease in resonance frequencies, with increased excitation amplitude. This shift in the resonance frequency as a function of the material nonlinearity parameter can be used to directly characterize the damage state of the material. This research tracks the variation of the nonlinearity parameter during a standard accelerated mortar bar test (AMBT) to assess the potential for alkali-reactivity of aggregates. The results show that the NIRAS technique is more sensitive than conventional linear acoustic methods and is capable of accurately characterizing the reactivity of the aggregates examined. Furthermore, the results show advantages over standard expansion measurements for differentiating various aggregates having similar levels of reactivity, particularly at early test ages. These changes in the nonlinearity parameter are benchmarked against results from a petrographic analysis. Thus, the proposed NIRAS is a promising technique for the rapid identification of alkali-reactive aggregates.     

Self-sensing of flexural damage and strain in carbon fiber reinforced cement and effect of embedded steel reinforcing bars

Self-sensing of flexural damage and strain in carbon fiber reinforced cement is attained by measuring the volume or surface resistance with the four-probe method and electrical contacts on the compression and/or tension surfaces. The oblique resistance (volume resistance in a direction between the longitudinal and through-thickness directions) increases upon loading and is a good indicator of damage and strain in combination. The surface resistance on the compression side decreases upon loading and is a good indicator of strain. The surface resistance on the tension side increases upon loading and is a good indicator of damage. The effectiveness for the self-sensing of flexural strain in carbon fiber reinforced cement is enhanced by the presence of embedded steel rebars on the tension side. For the same midspan deflection, the fractional change in surface electrical resistance is increased in magnitude, whether the surface resistance is that of the tension side or the compression side. The fractional change in resistance of the tension surface is increased by 40%, while the magnitude of the fractional change in resistance of the compression surface is increased by 70%, due to the steel.     

Black anodic coatings for space applications: Study of the process parameters,characteristics and mechanical properties

Black inorganic anodized aluminium alloys are used for managing passive thermal control on spacecraft and for avoiding stray light in optical equipment. Spalling of these coatings has sometimes been observed after thermal cycling on 2XXX and 7XXX aluminium alloys. This phenomenon could generate particulate contamination in satellites and may affect mission lifetime. In this work, the influences of the four main steps of the process (pretreatments, sulphuric anodizing, colouring and sealing) on the coating characteristics have been studied for a 7175T7351 aluminium alloy. The chemical heterogeneity of the coating has been underlined, and its mechanical behaviour observed through crazing. Scratch-testing, used to evaluate coating adhesion to its substrate, revealed the negative impact of thermal cycling.     

Relating damage evolution of concrete cooled to cryogenic temperatures to permeability

Typically, 9% Ni steel is used for primary containment of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Utilization of concrete in place of 9% Ni steel for primary containment would lead to significant cost savings. Hence, this study investigates changes in the microstructure of concrete due to cryogenic freezing that would affect its relevant engineering properties for containment. The study also evaluates the effect of aggregate type on the damage potential of concrete subjected to cryogenic freezing. The aim is to investigate design methodologies to produce damage-resistant cryogenic concrete. The study employed four concrete mixture designs involving river sand as fine aggregate, and coarse aggregates with different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) values. Specifically, the coarse aggregates were limestone, sandstone, trap rock and lightweight aggregate. Concrete cubes were cured under water for at least 28 days and thereafter frozen from ambient (20 °C) to cryogenic temperature (−165 °C). Acoustic emission (AE) sensors were placed on the concrete cubes during freezing. X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) was employed to study the microstructure of concrete cores, before and after cryogenic freezing. The impact of the microstructural evolution thus obtained from AE and XRCT on relevant engineering properties was determined via water and chloride permeability tests. Microcrack propagation determined from AE correlated with changes in permeability. There were no observable cracks in majority of the concrete mixtures after freezing. This implies that microcracks detected via AE and increased permeability was very well distributed and smaller than the XRCT’s resolution. Damage (microcracking) resistance of the concrete with different aggregates was in the order limestone ⩾ trap rock ≫ lightweight aggregate ⩾ sandstone.     

How the coarse fraction influences the microstructure and the effective thermal conductivity of alumina castables – An experimental and numerical study

This study investigates the particle size distribution's effect on the microstructure and effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of alumina castables. The ETC was measured by the transient plane source method and predicted numerically based on a two-scale model describing the structure on a fine and coarse scale. The prediction considered particle and pore size distributions, porosity (around 20%) and grain morphology. The microstructure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. For a constant fines content, increasing the coarse grain fraction while decreasing the medium fraction enhanced sintering of the matrix. Small pores (≤250 nm) increased the sintering activity. The densest castable contained the most small pores. The particles’ and pores’ contributions to the sintering activity led to intensified microcracking and a decreased ETC. The numerical model did not consider constituents ≤500 nm like the small pores and microcracks and the calculated ETC values consequently deviated from the measured values.     

Effect of the phase transformation on fracture behaviour of fused silica refractories

In this paper, the influence of phase transformation on the properties and fracture behaviour of fused silica refractory was investigated. The virgin fused silica refractory is amorphous, and possible failure is attributed to the propagation of a single crack in the structure. Due to the crystallization and phase transformation of low-/high- temperature cristobalite subpolymorphs occurring during the heat treatment, microcracks are formed especially in the matrix and at the grain boundary. This microcracking enables the development of sizable fracture process zone, which is responsible for the increase of specific fracture energy even with the decrease of strength. Therefore, the heat-treated specimens exhibit lower brittleness and higher strain tolerance before failure compared with the virgin fused silica refractory. All of these properties represent a better thermal shock resistance. Furthermore, microcracking causes a characteristic temperature dependence of Young’s Modulus due to phase transformation and partial crack closure at increased temperatures.     

Mechanism of damage for the alkali-silica reaction

A novel mechanism for the damage induced by alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is proposed. Two reaction steps are taken into account in the mechanism: the Q₃ tetrahedrons formation by breaking up siloxane bonds and the dissolution of these Q₃ tetrahedrons. We demonstrate that the formation of Q₃ tetrahedrons in the aggregate prevails over dissolution during the swelling step. The formation of Q₃ tetrahedrons causes a swelling and a micro-cracking of the aggregate: we observe a significant increase of the aggregate pore volume. A model based on a volume balance between the aggregate expansion and the swelling of mortar bars is proposed. This model enables us to measure an amplification factor of the aggregate swelling. This amplification factor is high (about 3) and related to the stiffness of the low porosity cement paste and to the cracking propagation process.