Elastic modulus determination at different levels of periodontal ligament in nanoindentation

In order to investigate the material properties ofperiodontal ligament （ PDL） in different locations, the nanoindentation method is used to survey the elastic modulus of the PDL at different levels. Cadaveric specimens of human mandibular canine were obtained from 4 adult donors, 16 transverse specimens were made from the sections of cervical margin, midroot and apex using the slow cutting machine. The prepared specimens were tested in different sections （along the longitudinal direction） and different areas （in the circumferential direction）. According to the Oliver-Phair theory, the mean values of elastic modulus were calculated foreach area and the differences among them were compared. In the midroot section, the average elastic modulus is ranging from 0. 11 to 0. 23 MPa, the changing range of the cervical margin and apex are from 0. 21 to 0. 53 MPa and 0. 44 to0.62 MPa, respectively. Experimental results indicate that the average elastic modulus in the midroot is lower than that in the cervical margin and apex, and relatively small changes occur among them. However, there is a large change to the elastic modulus value in the cicumferential direction for the PDL.

Elastic-plastic properties of thin film on elastic-plastic substrates characterized by nanoindentation test

To characterize the elastic-plastic properties of thin film materials on elastic-plastic substrates,a simple theory model was proposed,which included three steps:dimensionless analysis,finite element modeling and data fitting.The dimensionless analysis was applied to deriving two preliminary nondimensional relationships of the material properties,and finite element modeling and data fitting were carried out to establish their explicit forms.Numerical indentation tests were carried out to examine the effectiveness of the proposed model and the good agreement shows that the proposed theory model can be applied in practice.

Liquid metal-integrated ultra-elastic conductive microfibers from microfluidics for wearable electronics

Liquid metal(LM) has shown potential values in different areas. Attempts to implement LM are tending to develop new functions and make it versatile to improve its performance for practical applications.Here, we present an unprecedented LM-integrated ultra-elastic microfiber with distinctive features for wearable electronics. The microfiber with a polyurethane shell and an LM core was continuously generated by using a sequenced microfluidic spinning and injection method. Due to the precise fluid manipulation of microfluidics, the resultant microfiber could be tailored with tunable morphologies and responsive conductivities. We have demonstrated that the microfiber could act as dynamic force sensor and motion indicator when it was embedded into elastic films. In addition, the values of the LMintegrated ultra-elastic microfiber on energy conversions such as electro-magnetic or electro-thermal conversions have also been realized. These features indicate that LM-integrated microfiber will open up new frontiers in LM-integrated materials and the wearable electronics field.