DrPerry.org

The Biological Systems and Materials Division has been focusing on embracing and serving the duality of its membership, which consists of many established members of the society and the field of theoretical and applied mechanics who are developing research programs focusing on biological systems and materials, and simultaneously numerous researchers from the biological sciences who are adopting the experimental and analytical techniques of mechanics.  TD activities have included hosting numerous sessions in annual SEM Meetings; organizing the special issue of the journal Experimental Mechanics on “Mechanics of Organic, Implant and Bio-Inspired Materials” (June 2007); encouraging TD-related submissions to the regular issues of Experimental Mechanics, and developing joint sessions with other TDs.

The Biological Systems and Materials Division organized 9 sessions at the 2008 SEM Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL.  There were 35 papers in TD sessions and 9 related for a total of 44 papers in the biological systems and materials area. These sessions covered a variety of research areas, including the mechanics of hard and soft natural materials, novel biomaterials and biomedical systems, and biomimetics. Several presentations that overlapped in focus between our TD and other TDs could be found in additional sessions on composites, MEMS, dynamic testing, and time dependent materials.  Students of TD members also participated in the student competition. Devendra Bajaj, a student of Dwayne Arola (University of Maryland Baltimore County), won the 3rd place for his paper: “A Comparison of Natural and Unnatural Crack Growth in Human Enamel”.

For the 2009 SEM Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico (June 1-3) the Biological Systems and Materials TD will organize several session on topics including soft and hard materials, biomedical engineering, bioMEMS, bioimaging as well as joint sessions with the Inverse Problems TD and the MEMS/Nanotechnology TD.

Download a presentation describing the technical division in more detail. (PDF)

Officers

Chair
K. Jane Grande-Allen
Rice University
grande@rice.edu

Vice-Chair
Bart Prorok
Auburn University
prorok@auburn.edu

Secretary
Francois Barthelat
McGill University
francois.barthelat@mcgill.ca

You can view an animation in real time of a crack growing in a Nitinol fatigue specimen observed using moire interferometry while the test was being conducted in our Bose Electroforce test machine that shows a moving transformation zone and perceptible fringes captured at 30 frames per second.

You can download our presentation where we give results from recent in-vitro tests and advanced finite element analysis simulations as an example of a comprehensive and self-consistent engineering methodology for understanding therapeutic applications of RF tissue ablation. .

Radial force behavior is one of many engineering design criteria important to the design of implantable medical devices such as stents. Interpretation and extrapolation of bench-top data to predict in-vivo performance necessitates a thorough understanding of influence parameters such as boundary conditions and material uncertainty. An integrated modeling and test validation approach is needed to fully understand interactions of the influence parameters. This understanding helps establish reliable fatigue prediction methodologies that combines the load and displacement type boundary conditions. The approach is more broadly applicable to the unusual and complicated superelastic transformation behavior observed in Nitinol.

You can download our paper presented at the Symposium on Implant Mechanics during the Society for Experimental Mechanics 2007 Spring Conference where we discuss stent radial force performance, FEA, contact issues, experimental and material parameters associated with different radial force test methods and much more.

Phase shifted moire interferometry of crack and transformation zone in Nitinol fatigue specimen.

You can download our presentation of Nitinol fatigue and fracture initiation using phase shifted moire interferometry.