Pull-out and fragmentation in model fibre composites

An experimental study has been carried out of debonding and fibre rupture in model composites. A single glass rod or fibre was embedded in the centre of a long transparent silicone rubber block. Strains in the rubber in close proximity to the rod or fibre were measured as the specimen was slowly stretched. Pull-out forces, strain distributions, and debonded lengths are compared with the predictions of a simple theory based on a fracture energy criterion for debonding, and taking into account friction at the debonded interface. Experiments were carried out with rods of different diameter, rubber blocks of varied cross-section, and with two levels of adhesion. By extrapolating the debonded length to zero, values of the debonding force in the absence of friction were obtained. They were in accord with fracture energies of about 50 J/m² for weak bonding and about 200 J/m² for strong bonding. Fibre fragmentation lengths were measured also. They were in reasonable agreement with the inferred fracture energies and the measured frictional properties of silicone rubber sliding on glass. In a separate study, it was found that the frictional stress between cast silicone rubber and glass was approximately constant, about 0.1 MPa, rather than proportional to pressure, for pressures exceeding about 0.02 MPa. This feature is attributed to a particularly smooth interface between the two materials.     

Peel mechanics of adhesive joints

A review is given of the mechanics of peeling rupture of an adhesive joint, consisting of a flexible adhering strip peled away from a layer of adhesive. Attention is drawn to a number of anomalous results that cannot be accounted for solely, in terms of the thermodynamic work of formation of two new surfaces. The work of detachment is found to be generally much larger than the theoretically-predicted amount. Moreover, the value obtained is greater for thicker layers of adhesive, and for detachment at a peel angle of 180° rather than at 90°. Also, it is found to increase with increasing thickness of the adhering strip, passing through a maximum value in some cases and then decreasing as the strip thickness is increased still further. All of these effects are attributed to dissipative processes, for example, plastic yielding, in one or both of the adhering layers as they are peeled apart. Some quantitative relationships are given for the additional peel forces arising from plastic yielding of the adherend or the adhesive.     

Site-directed mutants of the cAMP receptor protein-DNA binding of five mutant proteins

Oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis was employed to generatemutants of the cAMP receptor protein (CRP) of Escherichia coli.The mutant proteins were purified to homogeneity and testedfor stability and DNA binding. It is shown that mutations atthe position of Arg¹⁸⁰ abolish specific DNA binding, whereasthose at the position Arg¹⁸⁵ have very little effect. Both positionshave previously been implicated as crucial for the specificinteraction between CRP and DNA. The Ser¹²⁸ Ala mutant showsa slight reduction in DNA binding affinity relative to wild-type.All mutants investigated show similar stability profiles towild-type CRP with respect to thermolysin proteolysis as a functionof temperature.     

New and Improved Tests for Adhesion

Three new methods are discussed for measuring the work G_a, required to detach unit area of an adhering material from a substrate. The first is a simple modification of the Outwater double-torsion test for long rectangular plates, bonded together. This method is suitable for evaluating aluminum-epoxy bonds, for example, or the transverse strength of fibrous composites. The second is a pull-off test for long strips adhering to a rigid surface. It seems suitable for adhesive tapes and laminates. The third is a reconsideration of the “blister” test for films and coatings, in which a circular debond at the interface is made to grow by internal pressure. The relation obtained between pull-off force F for a strip, or blow-off pressure P for a layer, takes the unusual form:

F⁴ (or P⁴) ∞ KG³_a

where K is the tensile stiffness of the detaching layer. This dependence arises from the non-linear (cubic) relation between load or pressure and deflection in these configurations. Nevertheless, the product Fθ, where θ is the angle of detachment of a strip, or Py, where y is the height of a “blister”, give direct measures of the strength of adhesion G_a, independent of the stiffness of the adhering material and of the extent of detachment.     

ADHESION OF ELASTOMER LAYERS TO AN INTERPOSED LAYER OF FILLER PARTICLES

Adhesion of elastomers to filler particles was studied by interposing a single layer of particles between two layers of a crosslinked elastomer and peeling the sandwich apart. Carbon black particles increased the peel strength by up to 100% compared with autohesion of the elastomer layers. Silica particles also increased the adhesion, but by a smaller factor, and there were significant differences using different elastomers. Also, the strength of adhesion depended on the degree of crosslinking of the elastomer layers: at higher levels of crosslinking, both self-adhesion and adhesion to particles were reduced. Nevertheless, this simple experiment gives an indication of the relative strength of adhesion for different combinations of elastomer and reinforcing filler.     

Exposure assessment of carcass disposal options in the event of a notifiable exotic animal disease: application to avian influenza virus

We present a generalized exposure assessment of 28 disposal options for poultry carcasses in the event of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak. The analysis supports a hereto unverified disposal hierarchy for animal carcasses, placing waste processing (e.g., incineration and rendering) above controlled disposal (e.g., landfill), above uncontrolled disposal (e.g., burial on-farm). We illustrate that early stages of the disposal chain (on-farm) pose greater opportunities for exposure to hazardous agents than later stages, where agents are generally contained, wastes are treated, and residues are managed by regulated processes. In selecting carcass disposal options, practitioners are advised to consider the full range of hazards rather than focusing solely on the HPAI agent, and to give preference to technologies that (i) offer high destruction efficiencies for target pathogens; (ii) do not give rise to significant releases of other pathogenic organisms; and (iii) do not release unacceptable concentrations of toxic chemicals. The approach offers an exposure assessment perspective for carcass disposal, thus providing a risk-informed basis for contingency planning and operational intervention. The authors recognize that relevant legislation, public perception, available capacity, and cost also need to be considered when selecting disposal options in the event of HPAI.     

Oxysterol incorporation into rat aorta resulting in elastin compositional changes

The incorporation of dietary cholestan-3β, 5α, 6β-triol (triol) into rat thoracic aortic tissue and changes in amino acid composition of the elastin were investigated to identify the cytotoxic properties of the triol. Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed the following diets for three months: (i) normal chow, (ii) normal chow with 1% (w/w) cholesterol added, or (iii) normal chow with 0.9% (w/w) cholesterol and 0.1% (w/w) triol added. Triol levels in the blood and in the thoracic aortic tissue were measured. Compositional changes of elastin were also determined. After three months on the triol-containing diet, triol was found in the thoracic aorta but was not detected in the blood. Amino acid analyses of the aortic tissue elastin revealed that the proline levels in the triol-fed animals were significantly greater than in the other two diet groups, while the elastin levels of leucine, aspartate, arginine, and phenylalanine decreased significantly. The mechanism for these observed changes induced by triol may reflect alternate splicing of elastin messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) resulting in structural changes in the elastin molecule. Dietary triol does contribute to tissue triol content and is associated with aortic elastin compositional changes. How these changes may contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease is not known.     

Plastic deformation of crystalline polymers

Draw ratios have been measured for samples of polyethylene and trons-polyisoprene, crystallized at various temperatures and at various degrees of orientation. The values obtained range from unity, i. e., no drawing is observed, up to values of about 15X for materials crystallized in the oriented state and then drawn in a perpendicular direction. The results are in rough accord with a simple molecular network model in which network strands are incorporated into crystallites with a number of reversals of direction (folds), and the remainder of a strand between network junctions is randomly arranged. The reduction in draw ratio with increasing temperature of crystallization and with increasing orientation at the time of crystallization is then accounted for in terms of a reduction in the number of reversals (folds) per molecular strand. Differences in natural draw ratio for different polymers are attributed to variations in characteristic sequence length within a crystallite and in the number of folds per network strand.     

Induction of adrenal scavenger receptor BI and increased high density lipoprotein-cholesteryl ether uptake by in vivo inhibition of hepatic lipase

Hepatic lipase (HL) and scavenger receptor type B class I (SR-BI) have both been implicated in high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesteryl ester uptake in cholesterol-utilizing tissues. Inactivation of HL by gene-directed targeting in mice results in up-regulation of SR-BI expression in adrenal gland (Wang, N., Weng, W., Breslow, J. L., and Tall, A. R. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 21001-21004). The net effect on HDL-cholesteryl ester uptake is not known. We determined the impact of acute in vivo inhibition of rat adrenal HL activity by antibodies on SR-BI expression and on human and rat HDL-[3H]cholesteryl ether (CEth) uptake in the adrenal gland. Rat HDL was isolated from rats in which HL activity had been inhibited for 1 h. The rats were studied under basal conditions (not ACTH-treated) and after previous treatment with ACTH for 6 days (ACTH-treated). Intravenous injection of anti-HL resulted in 70% lowering of adrenal HL activity in both conditions which were maintained for at least 8 h. In not ACTH-treated rats, inhibition of adrenal HL increased adrenal SR-BI mRNA (5.2-fold) and mass (1. 6-fold) within 4 h. HL inhibition resulted in 41% and 14% more adrenal accumulation of human HDL-[3H]CEth during 4 and 24 h, respectively. The adrenal uptake of rat HDL-[3H]CEth increased by 68%, 4 h after the antibody injection. ACTH treatment increased total adrenal HL activity from 3.7 +/- 0.5 milliunits to 34.0 +/- 17. 2 milliunits, as well as adrenal SR-BI mRNA from 2.9 +/- 0.7 arbitrary units (A.U.) to 86.8 +/- 41.1 A.U. and SR-BI mass from 7.7 +/- 1.8 A.U. to 63.16 +/- 46.7 A.U. The human HDL-[3H]CEth uptake by adrenals was also significantly increased from 0.58 +/- 0.11% of injected dose to 7.24 +/- 1.58% of injected dose. Inhibition of adrenal HL activity did not result in further induction of SR-BI expression and did not affect human HDL-[3H]CEth uptake. These findings indicate that SR-BI expression may be influenced by changes in HL activity. HL activity is not needed for the SR-BI-mediated HDL-cholesteryl ester uptake by rat adrenal glands.