Objectives: Maxillofacial silicone is used to restore abnormalities due to congenital or acquired causes. However, the quality of silicone is far from ideal. This study was aimed at assessing the influence of the addition of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs; several nanometers wide and 2-5 micro m long) on the physical and mechanical characteristics of maxillofacial silicone elastomers. Methods: Two CNF weight percentages (0.5% and 1%) were tested, and 180 specimens were divided into one control and two experimental groups. Each group was subdivided into six subgroups. In each subgroup, ten specimens subjected to each of the following tests: tearing strength, Shore-A hardness, tensile strength, elongation percentage, surface roughness, and color stability. The samples were additionally analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FESEM). Results: The 0.5% CNF group, compared with the control group, exhibited highly significantly greater tearing strength, elongation percentage, hardness Shore-A, and surface roughness, and substantially greater tensile strength. However, color stability did not significantly differ between groups. The 1% CNF group showed significantly greater Shore-A hardness, tear strength, color stability, and surface roughness, and insignificantly lower tensile strength and percentage elongating values, than the control group. FESEM imaging revealed good CNF dispersion. The FTIR spectra indicated that CNFs interacted with silicon through surface functional hydroxyl groups. Conclusion: Addition of 0.5 wt. % CNF to silicone elastomers increased the material’s mechanical tensile strength, tear strength, elongation percentage, and hardness as long as it stayed within the acceptable range for clinical use. Surface roughness increased in direct proportion to the amount of nanofibers added. Moreover, addition of 0.5 wt. % CNF to silicone polymers had insignificant effects on color stability.
Lead-free 0.88(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–0.084(K0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–0.036BaTiO3 (BNT–BKT–BT) piezoelectric ceramics were prepared using the conventional mixed-oxide method with a sintering temperature range of 1120–1200 °C. The effect of the sintering temperature on the crystal structure, microstructure, and densification, as well as the dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and the pyroelectric properties of BNT–BKT–BT ceramics were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study the microstructures of the sintered samples. The results showed that the increase in sintering temperature was very effective in improving both the density and electrical properties. However, the samples deteriorated when the sintering te
... Show MoreThe consequences of ionizing radiation-induced oxidative stress on radiographers in X-ray and CT-scan departments utilizing several biochemical were analyzed. The study found highly considerable discrepancies in the interplay between radiation levels and gender in terms of mean Malondialdehyde (MAD), Vitamin D3 (Vit.D3), Triiodothyronine (T3), Thyroxine (T4), and High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), but not Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL). The findings indicated that malondialdehyde is a useful biomarker for assessing oxidative stress in radiographers with exposure to ionizing radiation.
Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) based on the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect has been proposed to detect polluted water samples. The sensing characteristics are illustrated using the finite element method. The right hole of the right side of PCF core has been coated with chemically stable gold material to achieve the practical sensing approach. The performance parameter of the proposed sensor is investigated in terms of wavelength sensitivity, amplitude sensitivity, sensor resolution, and linearity of the resonant wavelength with the variation of refractive index of analyte. In the sensing range of 1.33 to 1.3624, maximum sensitivities of 1360.2 nm ∕ RIU and 184 RIU−1 are achieved with the high sensor resolutions of 7
... Show MoreA reinforced concrete frame is referred as "RIGID FRAMES". However, researches indicate that the Beam-Column joint (BCJ) is definitely not rigid. In addition, extensive research shows that failure may occur at the joint instead of in the beam or the column. Joint failure is known to be a catastrophic type which is difficult to repair.
This study was carried out to investigate the effect of hoops and column axial load on the shear strength of high-strength fiber reinforced Beam-Column Joints by using a numerical model based on finite element method using computer program ANSYS (Version 11.0). The variables are: diameter of hoops and magnitude of column axial load.
The theoretical results obtained from ANSYS program are in a good a
In the present investigation two different types of fiber reinforced polymer composites were prepared by hand lay-up method using three different parameters (curing temperature, pressing load and fiber volume fraction). These composites were prepared from the polyester resin as the matrix material reinforced with glass fibers as first group of samples and mat Kevlar fibers as the second group, both with different volume fractions (4%, 8%, and 12%) of fibers. They were then tested by tensile strength and impact strength. The main objective in this study is to use Taguchi method for predicting the better parameters that give the better tensile and impact strength to the composites, and then preparing composites at
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is designate quenching and tempering heat treatment by using Taguchi technique to determine optimal factors of heat treatment (austenitizing temperature, percentage of nanoparticles, type of base media, nanoparticles type and soaking time) for increasing hardness, wear rate and impact energy properties of 420 martensitic stainless steel. An (L18) orthogonal array was chosen for the design of experiment. The optimum process parameters were determined by using signal-to-noise ratio (larger is better) criterion for hardness and impact energy while (Smaller is better) criterion was for the wear rate. The importance levels of process parameters that effect on hardness, wear rate and impact energy propertie
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to understand the effect of addition carbon types on aluminum electrical conductivity which used three fillers of carbon reinforced aluminum at different weight fractions. The experimental results showed that electrical conductivity of aluminum was decreased by the addition all carbon types, also at low weight fraction of carbon black; it reached (4.53S/cm), whereas it was appeared highly increasing for each carbon fiber and synthetic graphite. At (45%) weight fraction the electrical conductivity was decreased to (4.36Scm) and (4.27Scm) for each carbon fiber and synthetic graphite, respectively. While it was reached to maximum value with carbon black. Hybrid composites were investigated also; the results exhibit tha
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In past years, structural pavement solution has been combined with destructive testing; these destructive methods are being replaced by non-destructive testing methods (NDT). Because the destructive test causes damage due to coring conducted for testing and also the difficulty of adequately repairing the core position in the field. Ultrasonic pulse velocity was used to evaluate the strength and volumetric properties of asphalt concrete, of binder course. The impact of moisture damage and testing temperature on pulse velocity has also been studied. Data were analyzed and modeled. It was found that using non-destructive testing represented by pulse velocity could be useful to predict the quality of asphalt c
... Show MoreThe acrylic polymer composites in this study are made up of various weight ratios of cement or silica nanoparticles (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) using the casting method. The effects of doping ratio/type on mechanical, dielectric, thermal, and hydrophobic properties were investigated. Acrylic polymer composites containing 5 wt% cement or silica nanoparticles had the lowest abrasion wear rates and the highest shore-D hardness and impact strength. The increase in the inclusion of cement or silica nanoparticles enhanced surface roughness, water contact angle (WCA), and thermal insulation. Acrylic/cement composites demonstrated higher mechanical, electrical, and thermal insulation properties than acrylic/silica composites because of their lowe
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