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A total number of 44 fatigue tests were conducted under total stain control, 26 for G20Mn5QT cast steel and 18 for butt welds between G20Mn5QT cast steel and Q345B steel. Based on the test results, cyclic stress response, plastic strain energy, strainlife curves and Coffin-Manson equations were presented. Comparing with hot rolled steels widely used in steel construction, the fatigue behaviour of G20Mn5QT cast steel is poor, the reason for which was imputed to the defects caused by the casting process. The welds between G20Mn5QT cast steel and Q345B steel exhibited similar fatigue performance as G20Mn5QT cast steel. Fatigue crack tends to initiate in the heat affected zone (HAZ) at the cast steel. Microstructure observations using optical and scanning electron microscope showed that casting defects are the common fatigue source for both G20Mn5QT cast steel and the butt welds between G20Mn5QT cast steel and Q345B steel.

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Both nanostructures and conformations of different protein/polysaccharide additives have critical influence on the performance of calcium sulfate (CS) bone cements. Silk fibroin (SF) as matrix and additives has been introduced to develop bone scaffolds and cements. Here, β‐sheet‐rich SF nanofibers (SFF) was used to tune the solidification of CS, achieving better mechanical and biological properties. The ratio of SFF was adjusted to further optimize CS functions. Compared to that regulated with natural silk fibers (NSF) and SF solutions (SFS), the SFF‐induced CS showed smaller size and more filament structures. Better mechanical properties were achieved, suggesting the superiority of the SFF as the solidifying solution to combine with α‐calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α‐CSH) at the same liquid/solid (L/S) ratio. Scanning electron microscope, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, setting time, porosity, mechanical performance test, degradation performance test, and water resistance test were used to demonstrate the properties of this bone repair cement. Cell culture experiments in vitro was used to evaluate the biocompatibility of this composited material. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that nanofibers was a better form of SF in the modification of CSH cement. And the research conducted in this article on improving the mechanical and biological properties of CSH would supported the reference for later clinical experiments. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B:2611–2619, 2019.

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