Drought is expected to increase in many parts of the world and has been shown to affect tree physiology and growth, with seedlings being particularly vulnerable. Seedling drought responses are often species dependent, and even within species different populations may demonstrate a spectrum of responses to drought, from susceptibility to...
For resin based dental restorative composites, one of the major challenges is to optimize the balance between mechanical and optical properties. Although fracture is the second leading cause of dental restorative failures, very limited mechanistic understanding exists on a microscopic level. In the present study, the fracture properties and mechanisms...
Dental resin composites are widely used in modern dentistry due to their aesthetic appearance. However, resin based restorations have inferior mechanical properties (fracture is the second reason for restorations replacement) in comparison to alloy based composites and their antimicrobial properties still remain poor, leading to secondary tooth decay development on...
Seafood processing is an important industry along the Oregon coast as it provides employment and seafood to coastal communities as well as to international markets. The industry has been an integral part of the identity of Coos County since the establishment of salmon canneries in the late 1800’s and has...
The next generation of high temperature structural alloys must exhibit exceptional resistance to fracture, creep, oxidation, and fatigue at high temperatures. Chromium is being considered due to its high melting point (>1800°C), relatively low density (~7.2 g/cc), high temperature strength, and oxidation resistance. Limiting the use of chromium is its...
Deformation of metallic glasses requires the existence of free volume to allow atomic movement under mechanical loading. Accordingly, the present research seeks to understand how free volume variations in alloys of identical compositions affect the fatigue and fracture behavior. By annealing below the glass transition temperature, the free volume of...
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) offer a great deal of potential through their near-theoretical strength, potentially high toughness and unique forming and molding traits. However, there are still a number of outstanding issues that bar their widespread use. This thesis describes the investigation of three research questions each designed to further...
Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of Johne's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects ruminant populations worldwide. The characteristic stages of the disease make diagnosis difficult, resulting in silent transmission among animals in a herd for years before proper detection of the infection. The extensive...
This thesis outlines the development of new elastomeric materials and manufacturing processes for soft robotics. Specifically, this work describes the development of custom material formulations for use in additive manufacturing, additive manufacturing processing techniques for silicone elastomers, and multi-component additive manufacturing techniques. Material synthesis and processing is a gap in...