Probing the Soft Side with Nanoindentation Techniques
Event details
| Date | 20.05.2010 |
| Hour | 16:00 |
| Speaker | Dr Michelle L. Oyen, Cambridge University |
| Location |
CO 017
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract :
The mechanical properties of many “soft” materials are of interest for biomedical applications, including both natural tissues and hydrogels for tissue engineering applications. In the last 15 years, nanoindentation techniques have gained prominence in the mechanical testing community for three reasons: first, the fine resolution in load and displacement transducers, second the fine spatial resolution for mapping local mechanical properties, and finally the relative ease of performing mechanical testing. In the current studies, we extend the scope of nanoindentation testing with commercial indenters to quantitative measurements on kPa materials. Different forms of the material constitutive response were considered with an emphasis on time-dependent viscoelastic or poroelastic deformation. Applications are the considered for hydrated tissues and hydrogels including articular cartilage, bone and mechanically graded hydrogels. Further investigations using adaptations of these nanoindentation techniques examine nano-scale adhesion and mechanical outcomes in stem cell differentiation. This study demonstrates the potential for high-throughput mechanical screening of soft materials and for mapping property gradients in inhomogeneous materials as these approaches can now be extended to materials in the kPa elastic modulus range.
Co-workers :
Matteo Galli, Tamaryn A. V. Shean, Kirsty Main, Wesley K. Chua
Bio :
Michelle L. Oyen is a Lecturer in Mechanics of Biological Materials in the Mechanics and Materials Division and the Engineering for the Life Sciences group in the Cambridge University Engineering Department. She holds a B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering and an M.S. Degree in Engineering Mechanics, both from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. degree in Biophysical Sciences and Medical Physics from the University of Minnesota. She joined Cambridge Engineering in 2006 following an appointment as Research Scientist at the University of Virginia Center for Applied Biomechanics.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Dr Matteo Galli