Layered tetrahedral meshing of thin-walled solids for plastic injection molding FEM

This paper describes a method for creating a well-shaped, layered tetrahedral mesh of a thin-walled solid by adapting the surface triangle sizes to the estimated wall thickness. The primary target application of the method is the finite element analysis of plastic injection molding, in which a layered mesh improves the accuracy of the solution. The edge lengths of the surface triangles must be proportional to the thickness of the domain to create well-shaped tetrahedrons; when the edge lengths are too short or too long, the shape of the tetrahedron tends to become thin or flat. The proposed method creates such a layered tetrahedral mesh in three steps: (1) create a preliminary tetrahedral mesh of the target geometric domain and estimate thickness distribution over the domain; (2) create a non-uniform surface triangular mesh with edge length adapted to the estimated thickness, then create a single-layer tetrahedral mesh using the surface triangular mesh; and (3) subdivide tetrahedrons of the single-layer mesh into multiple layers by applying a subdivision template. The effectiveness of the layered tetrahedral mesh is verified by running some experimental finite element analyses of plastic injection molding.     

Modification of physicochemical properties of actin filaments suppresses cell fragmentation in the execution phase of staurosporine-induced apoptotic processes

Effects of jasplakinolide (JSP), a stabilizer of F-actin, and latrunculin A (LTA), a destabilizer of F-actin, on a series of events occurring in the execution phase of staurosporine (STS)-induced apoptotic processes were studied using human osteosarcoma 143B cells. Time-dependent apparent increases of the population of cells with collapsed membrane potential of mitochondria (Delta Psi(m)) caused by STS treatment were not due to actual decreases in the Delta Psi(m) per cell, but due to the fragmentation of cells resulting in decreases in the number of active mitochondria per cell. Decreases in the Delta Psi(m) in fragmented cells occurred late in the execution phase. Both JSP and LAT failed to prevent STS-induced release of cytochrome c from mitochondria followed by the activation of caspases 3 and 9, the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and apoptotic nuclear fragmentation. However, both drugs prevented STS-induced apoptotic cell fragmentation and decreases in the Delta Psi(m). These results indicate that physicochemical states of actin filaments play a certain role in the execution phase of STS-induced apoptotic processes.     

The effects of ce additions on the high temperature corrosion behavior of Fe-30Cr-5Al alloy in 80 Pet Na2SO4-20 Pct NaCI molten salt

High temperature corrosion tests in 80 pct Na₂SO₄-20 pct NaCI were made on five Fe-30 wt pct Cr-5 wt pct Al alloys containing various amounts of cerium up to 0.68 pct. After the corrosion tests, samples were examined metallographically and by X-ray diffraction and X-ray microanalysis. It was found that the surface scale formed on each sample decreased in thickness as the Ce content increased. Electron probe microanalyses suggest that this retarding behavior is related to the early formation of a Ce-induced protective scale of α-Al₂O₃. The role of Ce in promoting the formation of the α-Al₂O₃ scale is discussed.     

Liver damage caused by sensitivity to anti-inflammatory agents]

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs may cause hepatic sensibilization and impairment. The incidence of these changes is low and referential data are scarce and related mainly to reaction which clinically corresponds to hepatic or cholestatic reaction. We present a patient who is sensitive to Diclofenac and has hepatic granuloma which developed after the use of the drug. History, clinical presentation, laboratory results, US examination of the liver and pathohistologic analysis of the hepatic biopsy sample enabled us to diagnose hepatitis with granulomatous impairment. Improvement of symptoms and signs of the disease was spontaneous and without administration of glucocorticoid drugs.     

Prospective method of lightning protection schemes in distribution system

Grounding wires and enclosed ZnO elements have been incorporated generally in 6.6‐kV distribution systems by TEPCO for the reduction of lightning overvoltages. At present, the reliability to lightning surges is tolerably good. However, the facility of grounding wires is not inexpensive and its maintenance is hard due to corrosion and disconnection in some areas. A typical model simulating TEPCO field adopting enclosed ZnO elements has been developed and we have evaluated relative failure risks systematically according to conditions with and without grounding wires against lightning overvoltages. Two kinds of failures discussed in the paper are the flashover of insulation and the overduty of ZnO elements, and two kinds of induced and direct lightning overvoltages are studied in flashover. The greatest problem with no grounding wire is the increase of ZnO elements' duty, but it was demonstrated that a short partial grounding wire around ZnO elements or the selection of heavier ZnO elements provides a solution. The main objectives of this study are to clarify the relative failure risks systematically according to realistic field conditions, the risk of small stroke currents having long duration to ZnO elements' duty, and countermeasures against ZnO elements' overduty. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(1): 1–10, 1999     

Involvement of the adrenal glands and testis in gap junction formation via testosterone within the male rat anterior pituitary gland

We investigated the influence of testicular and adrenal androgens on the presence of gap junctions between folliculo‐stellate cells in the anterior pituitary glands of 60‐day‐old Wistar‐Imamichi strain male rats. The animals were separated into six groups: Group A served as the controls and had free access to a normal diet and water, Group B was given a normal diet and 0.9% NaCl for their drinking water as the controls of adrenalectomized groups, Group C was castrated, Group D was adrenalectomized, Group E was both castrated and adrenalectomized, and Group F was also both castrated and adrenalectomized. In addition, the animals of Group F were administered a dose of testosterone that is known to produce high physiological levels of the hormones in plasma. Five rats from each group were sacrificed 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 days after their respective operation, and the anterior pituitary glands were removed and prepared for observation by transmission electron microscopy. We quantified the number of follicles and gap junctions and calculated the rate of occurrence as the ratio of the number of gap junctions existing between folliculo‐stellate cells per intersected follicle profile. Simultaneous removal of adrenal glands with castration resulted in a significantly decrease in the number of gap junctions, whereas the administration of testosterone to these rats compensated for this change. These observations indicate that the preservation of gap junctions between folliculo‐stellate cells is mainly dependent on androgens from both the testes and adrenal glands in adult male rats. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Converting a tetrahedral mesh to a prism–tetrahedral hybrid mesh for FEM accuracy and efficiency

This paper presents a computational method for converting a tetrahedral mesh to a prism–tetrahedral hybrid mesh for improved solution accuracy and computational efficiency of finite element analysis. The proposed method performs this conversion by inserting layers of prism elements and deleting tetrahedral elements in sweepable sub‐domains, in which cross‐sections remain topologically identical and geometrically similar along a certain sweeping path. The total number of finite elements is reduced because roughly three tetrahedral elements are converted to one prism element. The solution accuracy of the finite element analysis improves since a prism element yields a more accurate solution than a tetrahedral element due to the presence of higher‐order terms in the shape function. Only previously known method for creating such a prism–tetrahedral hybrid mesh was to manually decompose a target volume into sweepable and non‐sweepable sub‐volumes and mesh each of the sub‐volumes separately. Unlike the previous method, the proposed method starts from a cross‐section of a tetrahedral mesh and replaces the tetrahedral elements with layers of prism elements until prescribed quality criteria can no longer be satisfied. A series of computational fluid dynamics simulations and structural analyses have been conducted, and the results verified a better performance of prism–tetrahedral hybrid mesh. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanical properties of polypropylene filled with calcium carbonate

The tensile behavior of polypropylene (PP) filled with calcium carbonate particles has been studied using a tensile test. In particular, the effect of strain rate, filler content, and filler size upon the elastic modulus, yield stress, and strain of surface-modified and unmodified particles-filled PP were investigated. The results indicated that the elastic modulus and yield stress of an unmodified system were increased with an increase of strain rate and filler content, and with a decrease of filler size. The yield strain was decreased with an increase of filler content, and with a decrease of filler size, but did not depend on the strain rate. Although the dependence of elastic modulus on the filler size was maintained even by the surface-modified fillers, that dependence on the strain rate and filler content was decreased by such fillers. This may be because the modifier is present at the interface of filler and polymer matrix.