Search

This work demonstrates that an artificial scaffold structure can be designed to exhibit mechanical properties close to the ones of real bone tissue, thus highly reducing the stress-shielding phenomenon. In this study the scan of lumbar vertebra fragment was reproduced to create a numerical 3D model (this model was called the reference bone sample). New nine 3D scaffold samples were designed and their numerical models were created. Using the finite element analysis, a static compression test was performed to assess the effective Young modulus of each tested sample. Also, two important metrics of each sample were assessed: relative density and surface area. Each new designed 3D scaffold sample was analyzed by considering two types of material properties: metal alloy properties (Ti-6Al-4V) and ABS polymer properties. Numerical analysis results of this study confirms that 3D scaffold used to design a periodic structure, either based on interconnected beams (A, B, C, D, E and F units) or made by removing regular shapes from base solid cubes (G, H, I units), can be refined to obtain mechanical properties similar to the ones of trabecular bone tissue. Experimental validation was performed on seven scaffolds (A, B, C, D, E, F and H units) printed from ABS material without any support materials by using Fused Deposition Modeling (FMD) technology. Results of experimental Young modulus of each printed scaffold are also presented and discussed.

Eddy current (EC) sensors placed in the vicinity of a rail track and sensitive to passing train components are safety-critical components commonly used in the railway sector. From the engineering point of view they form a system with numerous variables including their geometry, the lift-off, magnetic properties of the applied materials, the operating frequency and electrical characteristics of the built-in circuits. Although some simple configurations of the EC devices have been studied experimentally, numerically and analytically, there have so far been no universal algorithm allowing for predicting, understanding and optimizing output signals for arbitrarily device/track/wheel characteristics. A significant step towards such an universal algorithm is presented in this work, combining a linear 3D finite element modelling and a set of analytical formulas derived directly from the constants of the resonance circuit. Functions correlating the magnetic induction space/time characteristics with the circuit outputs are proposed and validated against experiment in three stages: (a) by determination of the signal from a flat thin FeSi plate (i.e. in fully controlled laboratory conditions), (b) by laboratory measurements of a highly degraded rail with uncertain material properties, (c) by tests of a commercial EC wheel detector, with reference to averaged service data. The proposed methodology can be extended to any NDT field where EC devices are applied.