Papers by Author: H.N. Lim

Abstract: The indentation test has been in the spotlight due to easy and non-destructive testing characteristics. However, there are little studies for the indentation test of porous materials in the evaluation aspect of methodology. The goal of this study was to evaluate a spherical indentation test in the aspect of indenter-size and indentation depth by measuring elastic modulus of porous materials such as a cancellous bone using a FEM. We developed a microstructure-based FE model of cancellous bone with apparent density 0.2~0.8 g/cm3 in order to simulate uniaxial compression test and indentation test in the light of anatomical observation with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). We obtained a load-displacement curve through the indentation simulation and calculated the Young’s modulus of cancellous structure based on Pharr's hypothesis. The result indicated that indenter diameter has to be more than five times of pore size and indentation depth should be about 8% of indenter diameter at least to obtain the appropriate result of the indentation test. It is expected that this result may guide to the design and the simulation of indentation test for porous materials

Abstract: In the area of biomaterials, the structures with negative Poisson’s ratio are able to be applied to the polymer component of prosthesis, artificial blood-vessel and catheter. To induce its characteristic, previous studies postulated many structural shapes such as non-convex shape with reentrant corners and re-entrant honeycomb. In this study, we proposed the rotational particle structures and investigated the Poisson’s ratio and the ratio (Ee/E) of the elastic modulus of these structures based on structural design variables using finite element method. The auto-meshing preprocessor was coded using MATLAB in order to construct numerical models as design variables and perform finite element analysis (FEA) effectively. Three selected design variables were the ratio of fibril’s length to particle’s diameter (0.2~2.0), the ratio of fibril’s length to its width (0.02~0.2) and the angle of fibril about horizontal axis (0 degree ~ tangential angle). Finite element model has 2D plain stress quadratic element and composed of 515 particles and 6-linked fibrils per each particle. For all of 213 cases, one side of each model is applied a tension, 0.1% strain and analyze Poisson’s ratio and the ratio (Ee/E) of the elastic modulus. As the ratio of fibril’s length to particle’s diameter increased and the ratio of fibril’s diameter to fibril’s length decreased fixing the fibril’s angle with 45 degree, the negative Poisson effect of rotational particle structures increased. The ratio of elastic modulus of these structures decreased with Poisson’s ratio. The results show the reasonable values as compared with the previous analytical results.

Abstract: Effects of 0.5 wt% Sn-addition to the dental casting Au-12Pt-0.6Cu alloy on the interfacial microstructures and bonding strength between porcelain and the alloy were investigated. Porcelain powders (SiO2-based oxides) are bonded through a thermal schedule consisting of preoxidation, 1st firing, and 2nd firing. Interfacial microstructures were examined after pre-oxidation and 2nd firing, respectively, by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The bonding strength of the Au-12Pt-0.6Cu and Au-12Pt-0.6Cu-0.5Sn alloys with porcelain was about 24.6 MPa and 46.2 MPa, respectively. The higher bonding strength of the Sn-added alloy compared with that of the alloy without Sn is attributed to the SnO2 formed at the interface between porcelain and the alloy during pre-oxidation. SnO2 layer is thought to enhance chemical bonding with various oxides in the porcelain and, accordingly, improve bonding strength.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine if the application of custom-made porous titanium membranes combined with bone graft materials promotes exophytic bone formation in rabbit calvaria. For this purpose, round decorticated calvaria sites were created using a round carbide bur. In the control group, rectangular parallelepiped-shaped porous titanium membranes (RPTMs) were placed on the decorticated sites and fixed with metal pins. In the experimental groups, RPTMs were filled with one of the following bone graft materials prior to fixing with metal pins: bovine bone mineral (BBM), demineralized freeze-dried human cortical bone (DFDB) or freeze-dried human cancellous bone (FDB). Animals were sacrificed at 8 and 12 weeks after surgery, and new bone formation was assessed by histomorphometric as well as statistical analysis. The results indicate that at 8 and 12 weeks, all the experimental groups demonstrated exophytic bone formation. At 12 weeks, DFDB group revealed the most new bone formation (p<0.05) and resorption of grafted materials (p<0.05). On the basis of these findings, we conclude that RPTMs may be used as an augmentation membrane for guided bone regeneration and DFDB as an effective bone-inducing graft material.

Abstract: The effect of indium on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a Au-Pt-Cu alloy was investigated. The Au-Pt-Cu-xIn alloys heat-treated at 550°C for 30 min revealed a maximum hardness value of 207 HV, irrespective of the heat temperature and In contents. Also, the hardness of the Au-Pt-Cu-xIn alloys (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) aged at 550 °C rapidly increased with increasing aging time, and it reached an almost constant value after 30 min. The hardness of the Au- Pt-Cu-xIn alloys aged at 550°C for 30 min increased with increasing In content until 1.5wt%, but it slightly decreased with more increasing In content. Also, a variation of the tensile strength of the alloys with In contents showed a similar trend of hardness change with In contents. Analysis of EDS and TEM revealed that the microstructure of Au-Pt-Cu-xIn alloys is composed of solid solution with fcc structure and intermetallic InPt3 precipitate with L12 structure. Based on this investigation, it can be concluded that an increase in hardness of Au-Pt-Cu-xIn alloys is ascribed to a complex effect of the precipitation hardening of InPt3 and the grain size refinement.

Abstract: Effects of 0.5 wt% Indium addition on the oxidation of Au-Pt-Cu alloy, the interfacial microstructure and bonding strength between porcelain and Au-Pt-Cu-xIn alloys(x = 0, 0.5wt%) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy, and a tensile tester. The bonding strength of the Au-Pt-Cu and Au-Pt-Cu-0.5In alloys with porcelain was about 24.6 MPa and 49.5 MPa in average, respectively. This higher bonding strength in the Au-Pt-Cu-0.5In alloy compared with the Au-Pt-Cu alloy without In is ascribed to the formation of In2O3 at the interface between porcelain and Au-Pt-Cu-0.5In alloy. Especially, the formation of In2O3 at the interface between porcelain and Au-Pt-Cu-0.5In alloy leads to enhancing chemical bonding between In2O3 and various oxides in porcelain, and also to improving the anchoring effect.