Efficacy of scleral buckling for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment using a novel foldable capsular buckle

●AIM:To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of scleral buckling for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment(RRD)using a novel foldable capsular buckle(FCB).●METHODS:This was a series of case observation studies.Eighteen patients(18 eyes)who visited our ophthalmology department between August 2020 and August 2022 and were treated for RRD with scleral buckling using FCB were included.The procedure was similar to conventional scleral buckling,while a balloon-like FCB was placed onto the retinal break with balanced salt solution filling for a broad,external indentation instead of the silicone buckle.The retinal reattachment rate,best corrected visual acuity(BCVA),intraocular pressure(IOP),refractive dioptre and astigmatism degree,and complications were evaluated and recorded.●RESULTS:There were 7 males and 11 females aged 19-58y.The average time course of RRD was 12d,ranging from 7-20d.The retinal break was located in the superior quadrants in 8 eyes and in the inferior quadrants in 10 eyes,with macula-off detachments in 12 eyes.The patients were followed-up for at least 6mo.The final retinal reattachment rate was 100%.The BCVA was significantly improved compared with the baseline(P<0.05).There was no significant change in refractive dioptre or astigmatism degree at each follow-up(all P>0.05).Three patients had transiently high IOPs within one week after surgery.Mild diplopia occurred in 5 patients after surgery and then disappeared after the balloon fluid was removed.●CONCLUSION:The success rate of FCB scleral buckling for RRD is satisfactory.This procedure can be expected to be applied in new,uncomplicated cases of RRD.

Buckling Properties of Water-Drop-Shaped Pressure Hulls with Various Shape Indices Under Hydrostatic External Pressure

The water-drop-shaped pressure hull has a good streamline,which has good application prospect in the underwater observatory.Therefore,this study conducted analytical,experimental and numerical investigation of the buckling properties of water-drop-shaped pressure hulls under hydrostatic pressure.A water-drop experiment was conducted to design water-drop-shaped pressure hulls with various shape indices.The critical loads for the water-drop-shaped pressure hulls were resolved by using Mushtari’s formula.Several numerical simulations including linear buckling analysis and nonlinear buckling analysis including eigenmode imperfections were performed.The results indicated that the critical loads resolved by Mushtari's formula were in good agreement with the linear buckling loads from the numerical simulations.This formula can be extended to estimate the buckling capacity of water-drop-shaped pressure hulls.In addition,three groups of pressure hulls were fabricated by using stereolithography,a rapid prototyping technique.Subsequently,three groups of the pressure hulls were subjected to ultrasonic measurements,optical scanning,hydrostatic testing and numerical analysis.The experimental results were consistent with the numerical results.The results indicate that the sharp end of the water-drop-shaped pressure hulls exhibited instability compared with the blunt end.This paper provides a new solution to the limitations of experimental studies on the water-drop-shaped pressure hulls as well as a new configuration and evaluation method for underwater observatories.

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method based on aggregation function and matrix multiplication considering buckling response constraints

A non-probabilistic reliability topology optimization method is proposed based on the aggregation function and matrix multiplication.The expression of the geometric stiffness matrix is derived,the finite element linear buckling analysis is conducted,and the sensitivity solution of the linear buckling factor is achieved.For a specific problem in linear buckling topology optimization,a Heaviside projection function based on the exponential smooth growth is developed to eliminate the gray cells.The aggregation function method is used to consider the high-order eigenvalues,so as to obtain continuous sensitivity information and refined structural design.With cyclic matrix programming,a fast topology optimization method that can be used to efficiently obtain the unit assembly and sensitivity solution is conducted.To maximize the buckling load,under the constraint of the given buckling load,two types of topological optimization columns are constructed.The variable density method is used to achieve the topology optimization solution along with the moving asymptote optimization algorithm.The vertex method and the matching point method are used to carry out an uncertainty propagation analysis,and the non-probability reliability topology optimization method considering buckling responses is developed based on the transformation of non-probability reliability indices based on the characteristic distance.Finally,the differences in the structural topology optimization under different reliability degrees are illustrated by examples.

Fault Diagnosis for Buckling Friction Components in Wet Multi-Disc Clutches Using IHHT

The wet multi-disc clutches are extensively used in various transmission systems,withone of the most prevalent failure modes being the buckling deformation of friction components.Animproved Hilbert-Huang transform method(IHHT)is proposed to address the limitations of tradi-tional time-domain vibration analyses,such as low accuracy and mode mixing.This paper first clas-sifies the buckling degree of the friction components.Next,wavelet packet transform(WPT)isapplied to the vibration signals of different buckling plates to partition them into distinct fre-quency bands.Then,the instantaneous features are extracted by empirical mode decomposition(EMD)and Hilbert transform(HT)to discarding extraneous intrinsic mode function(IMF)com-ponents.Comparative analyses of Hilbert spectral entropy and time-domain features confirm theenhanced precision of IHHT under specific classifiers,which is better than traditional methods.

Non-contact wide-field viewing system-assisted scleral buckling surgery for retinal detachment in silicone oilfilled eyes

AIM:To evaluate scleral buckling(SB)surgery using a noncontact wide-field viewing system and 23-gauge intraocular illumination for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in silicone oil(SO)-filled eyes.METHODS:Totally 9 patients(9 eyes)with retinal detachment in SO-filled eyes were retrospectively analyzed.All patients underwent non-contact wide-field viewing system-assisted buckling surgery with 23-gauge intraocular illumination.SO was removed at an appropriate time based on recovery.The patients were followed up for at least 3mo after SO removal.Retinal reattachment,complications,visual acuity and intraocular pressure(IOP)before and after surgery were observed.RESULTS:Patients were followed up for a mean of 8.22mo(3-22mo)after SO removal.All patients had retinal reattachment.At the final follow-up,visual acuity showed improvement for 8 patients,and no change for 1 patient.The IOP was high in 3 patients before surgery,but it stabilized after treatment;it was not affected in the other patients.None of the patients had infections,hemorrhage,anterior ischemia,or any other complication.CONCLUSION:This new non-contact wide-field viewing system-assisted SB surgery with 23-gauge intraocular illumination is effective and safe for retinal detachment in SO-filled eyes.

Buckling Optimization of Curved Grid Stiffeners through the Level Set Based Density Method

Stiffened structures have great potential for improvingmechanical performance,and the study of their stability is of great interest.In this paper,the optimization of the critical buckling load factor for curved grid stiffeners is solved by using the level set based density method,where the shape and cross section(including thickness and width)of the stiffeners can be optimized simultaneously.The grid stiffeners are a combination ofmany single stiffenerswhich are projected by the corresponding level set functions.The thickness and width of each stiffener are designed to be independent variables in the projection applied to each level set function.Besides,the path of each single stiffener is described by the zero iso-contour of the level set function.All the single stiffeners are combined together by using the p-norm method to obtain the stiffener grid.The proposed method is validated by several numerical examples to optimize the critical buckling load factor.

Chebyshev polynomial-based Ritz method for thermal buckling and free vibration behaviors of metal foam beams

This study presents the Chebyshev polynomials-based Ritz method to examine the thermal buckling and free vibration characteristics of metal foam beams.The analyses include three models for porosity distribution and two scenarios for thermal distribution.The material properties are assessed under two conditions,i.e.,temperature dependence and temperature independence.The theoretical framework for the beams is based on the higher-order shear deformation theory,which incorporates shear deformations with higher-order polynomials.The governing equations are established from the Lagrange equations,and the beam displacement fields are approximated by the Chebyshev polynomials.Numerical simulations are performed to evaluate the effects of thermal load,slenderness,boundary condition(BC),and porosity distribution on the buckling and vibration behaviors of metal foam beams.The findings highlight the significant influence of temperature-dependent(TD)material properties on metal foam beams'buckling and vibration responses.

Free vibration and buckling analysis of polymeric composite beams reinforced by functionally graded bamboo fbers

Natural fibers have been extensively researched as reinforcement materials in polymers on account of their environmental and economic advantages in comparison with synthetic fibers in the recent years.Bamboo fibers are renowned for their good mechanical properties,abundance,and short cycle growth.As beams are one of the fundamental structural components and are susceptible to mechanical loads in engineering applications,this paper performs a study on the free vibration and buckling responses of bamboo fiber reinforced composite(BFRC)beams on the elastic foundation.Three different functionally graded(FG)layouts and a uniform one are the considered distributions for unidirectional long bamboo fibers across the thickness.The elastic properties of the composite are determined with the law of mixture.Employing Hamilton’s principle,the governing equations of motion are obtained.The generalized differential quadrature method(GDQM)is then applied to the equations to obtain the results.The achieved outcomes exhibit that the natural frequency and buckling load values vary as the fiber volume fractions and distributions,elastic foundation stiffness values,and boundary conditions(BCs)and slenderness ratio of the beam change.Furthermore,a comparative study is conducted between the derived analysis outcomes for BFRC and homogenous polymer beams to examine the effectiveness of bamboo fibers as reinforcement materials,demonstrating the significant enhancements in both vibration and buckling responses,with the exception of natural frequencies for cantilever beams on the Pasternak foundation with the FG-◇fiber distribution.Eventually,the obtained analysis results of BFRC beams are also compared with those for carbon nanotube reinforced composite(CNTRC)beams found in the literature,indicating that the buckling loads and natural frequencies of BFRC beams are lower than those of CNTRC beams.

Post-Buckling Analysis for Elastic Thin Plate Under Unilateral Frictionless Restraint

To investigate the buckling and post buckling behaviors of elastic thin plate under frictionless unilateral restraint, enduring the coupling action of lognitudinal and transverse loads, the principle of minimum potential energy and variational method are used and series functions with unknown coefficients are taken as trial functions of functional to solve the large deflection and non linear bending problem of a thin plate and find relation curves between deflection of plate and loads. The proposed method can capture the buckling and post buckling behaviors of a thin plate in different geometrical and load boundary conditions. The analysis confirms that there occur snap and bifurcation behaviors in the post buckling stage of the plate. And these results show the validity of the variational method for solving buckling problems of thin plate.

Statics, vibration, and buckling of sandwich plates with metamaterial cores characterized by negative thermal expansion and negative Poisson's ratio

This paper proposes a three-dimensional(3D)Maltese cross metamaterial with negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)and negative thermal expansion(NTE)adopted as the core layers in sandwich plates,and aims to explore the relations between the mechanical responses of sandwich composites and the NPR or NTE of the metamaterial.First,the NPR and NTE of the metamaterial are derived analytically based on energy conservation.The effective elastic modulus and mass density of the 3D metamaterial are obtained and validated by the finite element method(FEM).Subsequently,the general governing equation of the 3D sandwich plate under thermal environments is established based on Hamilton’s principle with the consideration of the von Kármán nonlinearity.The differential quadrature(DQ)FEM(DQFEM)is utilized to obtain the numerical solutions.It is shown that NPR and NTE can enhance the global stiffness of sandwich structures.The geometric parameters of the Maltese cross metamaterial significantly affect the responses of the thermal stress,natural frequency,and critical buckling load.

Buckling and post-buckling analyses of size-dependent piezoelectric nanoplates

This paper attempts to investigate the buckling and post-buckling behaviors of piezoelectric nanoplate based on the nonlocal Mindlin plate model and yon Karman geometric nonlinearity. An external electric voltage and a uniform temperature rise are applied on the piezoelectric nanoplate. Both the uniaxial and biaxial mechanical compression forces will be considered in the buckling and post-buckling analysis. By substituting the energy functions into the equation of the minimum total potential energy principle, the governing equations are derived directly, and then discretized through the differential quadrature （DQ） method. The buckling and post-buckling responses of piezoelectric nanoplates are calculated by employing a direct iterative method under different boundary conditions. The numerical results are presented to show the influences of different factors including the nonlocal parameter, electric voltage, and temperature rise on the buckling and post-buckling responses.

ANALYSIS ON BUCKLING AND POSTBUCKLING OF DELAMINATION IN 3D COMPOSITES

In this paper, the problem of axisymmetric buckling and postbuckling of a circular thin-film delamination bridged by through-thickness fiber tows in 3D composites is presented. An iterative procedure based on Taylor's series expansion is used to generate a family of nondimensionalized postbuckling solutions of the above problem by von Karman's nonlinear plate theory. Attention is focused, herein, on the effects of the bridge force of through-thickness fibers on the buckling and postbuckling behavior of the delamination. It is found that fiber bridge not only increases the ability of resisting delamination buckling and postbuckling, but also brings on the jump of the delamination deflection mode during the postbuckling phase. Consequently the behavior of the composite structure with delamination is greatly improved, such as increasing the residual strength and prolonging the service life.

ON THE POST-BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF PLASTIC STRUCTURES UNDER IMPULSIVE LOADING

An analytical method is suggested to analyze the plastic post-buckling behavior under impulsive loading. The fundamental equation of motion of a cylindrical shell is taken as an example to explain the main concept and procedure. The axial and the radial displacements are decoupled by an approximate scheme, so that only one non-linear equation for the radial buckling displacement is to be solved. By expanding it in terms of an amplitude measure as a time variable, we may get the post-buckling behavior in the form of a series solution. The post-buckling behavior of a rectangular plate used as a special case of cylindrical shell is discussed.

BUCKLING AND POSTBUCKLING OF LAMINATED THIN CYLINDRICAL SHELLS UNDER HYGROTHERMAL ENVIRONMENTS

The influence of hygrothermal effects on the buckling and postbuckling of composite laminated cylindrical shells subjected to axial compression is investigated using a micro-to-macro-mechanical analytical model. The material properties of the composite are affected hy the variation of temperature and moisture, and are hosed on a micromechanical model of a laminate. The governing equations are based on the classical laminated shell theory, and including hygrothermal effects. The nonlinear prebuckling deformations and initial geometric imperfections of the shell were both taken into account. A boundary layer theory of shell buckling was extended to the case of laminated cylindrical shells under hygrothermal environments, and a singular peturbation technique was employed to determine buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the postbuckling behavior of perfect and imperfect, cross-ply laminated cylindrical shells under different sets of environmental conditions. The influences played by temperature rise, the degree of moisture concentration, fiber volume fraction, shell geometric parameter, total number of plies, stacking sequences and initial geometric imperfections are studied.

Episcleral macular buckling for posterior retinal detachment in silicone oil filled eyes associated with myopic macular hole

AIM: To evaluate anatomical and visual outcomes of episcleral macular buckling (EMB) for posterior retinal detachment in silicone oil filled eyes associated with myopic macular hole.METHODS: Five cases of EMB for initial failure of retinal reattachment after internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and silicone oil tamponade caused by myopic macular hole were retrospectively reviewed. A silicone sponge sutured directly across the macular region was performed on the silicone oil filled eyes. Silicone oil was removed no sooner than 1 month post- EMB. The duration of follow -up time after removal of silicone oil was more than 3 months.RESULTS: Retinas of five eyes were all reattached at the last follow-up. The postoperative vision ranged from counting fingers to 0.08.CONCLUSION: Anatomical results improved after EBM for posterior retinal detachment in silicone oil filled eyes associated with myopic macular hole, which was not evident for visual outcome.

BUCKLING AND POST-BUCKLING OF PIEZOELECTRIC PLATES USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The finite element equations considering the geometrical nonlinearity of piezoelectric smart structures are derived based on the total Lagrange method under the assumption of weak coupling between electricity and mechanics. Buckling and post-buckling of piezoelectric-plate with various boundary conditions are investigated. The calculated results show that piezoelectric effects and external voltage can hardly affect the buckling and post-bucking characteristics of piezoelectric-plate under uniaxial pressure while the buckling caused by displacement in-plane has much to do with the electric field.

Analytical solution approach for nonlinear buckling and postbuckling analysis of cylindrical nanoshells based on surface elasticity theory

The size-dependent nonlinear buckling and postbuckling characteristics of circular cylindrical nanoshells subjected to the axial compressive load are investigated with an analytical approach. The surface energy effects are taken into account according to the surface elasticity theory of Gurtin and Murdoch. The developed geometrically nonlinear shell model is based on the classical Donnell shell theory and the von Karman＇s hypothesis. With the numerical results, the effect of the surface stress on the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling behaviors of nanoshells made of Si and Al is studied. Moreover, the influence of the surface residual tension and the radius-to-thickness ratio is illustrated. The results indicate that the surface stress has an important effect on prebuckling and postbuekling characteristics of nanoshells with small sizes.

Numerical Study on Lateral Buckling Mode of Pipelines Laid on A Sleeper

Because non-buried submarine pipelines under cyclic thermal loading are prone to global buckling,sleepers are commonly laid along the pipeline route to induce a series of relatively small and controllable lateral buckling.A finite element model which can simulate the transformation of pipeline laid on a sleeper from vertical buckling to lateral buckling is established in this work.The parameters of sleeper affecting pipeline buckling modes are analysed,and a new kind of sleeper is proposed aimed at avoiding antisymmetric buckling.Results show that the lateral trigger force can avoid antisymmetric lateral buckling when acting between 1℃and 13℃before the critical buckling temperature.The range increases slightly with increasing trigger force.Compared with an ordinary sleeper,the proposed new sleeper with slider can reduce the critical buckling temperature by 25%,which significantly improves the success rate of sleepers.

THERMAL POST-BUCKLING OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED MATERIAL TIMOSHENKO BEAMS

Analysis of thermal post-buckling of FGM （Functionally Graded Material） Timoshenko beams subjected to transversely non-uniform temperature rise is presented. By accurately considering the axial extension and transverse shear deformation in the sense of theory of Timoshenko beam, geometrical nonlinear governing equations including seven basic unknown functions for functionally graded beams subjected to mechanical and thermal loads were formulated. In the analysis, it was assumed that the material properties of the beam vary continuously as a power function of the thickness coordinate. By using a shooting method, the obtained nonlinear boundary value problem was numerically solved and thermal buckling and post-buckling response of transversely nonuniformly heated FGM Timoshenko beams with fixed-fixed edges were obtained. Characteristic curves of the buckling deformation of the beam varying with thermal load and the power law index are plotted. The effects of material gradient property on the buckling deformation and critical temperature of beam were discussed in details. The results show that there exists the tension-bend coupling deformation in the uniformly heated beam because of the transversely non-uniform characteristic of materials.

Predictive factors for postoperative visual function of primary chronic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment after scleral buckling

AIM： To evaluate predictive factors for postoperative visual function of primary chronic rhegmatgenous retinal detachment （RRD） after sclera buckling （SB）. METHODS： Totally 48 patients （51 eyes） with primary chronic RRD were included in this prospective interventional clinical cases study, which underwent SB alone from June 2008 to December 2014. Age, sex, symptoms duration, detached extension, retinal hole position, size, type, fovea on/off, proliferative vitreoretinopathy （PVR）, posterior vitreous detachment （PVD）, baseline best corrected visual acuity （BCVA）, operative duration, follow up duration, final BCVA were measured. Pearson correlation analysis, Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear stepwise regression were used to confirm predictive factors for better final visual acuity. Student＇s t-test, Wilcoxon twosample test, Chi-square test and logistic stepwise regression were used to confirm predictive factors for better vision improvement. RESULTS： Baseline BCVA was 0.8313±0.6911 IogMAR and final BCVA was 0.4761 ±0.4956 IogMAR. Primary surgical success rate was 92.16% （47/51）. Correlation analyses revealed shorter symptoms duration （r =0.3850, P=0.0053）, less detached area （r=0.5489, P〈0.0001）, fovea （r=0.4605, P=0.0007）, no PVR （r=0.3138, P= 0.0250）, better baseline BCVA （r=0.7291, P〈0.0001）, shorter operative duration （r=0.3233, P=0.0207） and longer follow up （r=-0.3358, P=0.0160） were related with better final BCVA, while independent predictive factors were better baseline BCVA [partial R-square （PR2） = 0.5316, P〈0.0001], shorter symptoms duration （PR2= 0.0609, P=0.0101）, longer follow up duration （PR2=0.0278, P =0.0477） and shorter operative duration （PR2=0.0338, P=0.0350）. Patients with vision improvement took up 49.02% （25/51）. Univariate and multivariate analyses both revealed predictive factors for better vision improvement were better baseline vision [odds ratio （OR） =50.369, P= 0.0041] and longer follow up duration （OR=1.144, P= 0.0067）. CONCLUSION： Independent predictive factors for better visual outcome of primary chronic RRD after SB are better baseline BCVA, shorter symptoms duration, shorter operative duration and longer follow up duration, while independent predictive factors for better vision improvement after operation are better baseline vision and longer follow up duration.