In this study, heparin-mimicking hydrogel thin films are covalently attached onto poly(ether sulfone) membrane surfaces to improve anticoagulant property. The hydrogel films display honeycomb-like porous structure with well controlled thickness and show long-term stability. After immobilizing the hydrogel films, the membranes show excellent anticoagulant property confirmed by the activated partial thromboplastin time values exceeding 600 s. Meanwhile, the thrombin time values increase from 20 to 61 s as the sodium allysulfonate proportions increase from 0 to 80 mol%. In vitro investigations of protein adsorption and blood-related complement activation also confirm that the membranes exhibit super-anticoagulant property. Furthermore, gentamycin sulfate is loaded into the hydrogel films, and the released drug shows significant inhibition toward E. coli bacteria. It is believed that the surface attached heparin-mimicking hydrogel thin films may show high potential for the applications in various biological fields, such as blood contacting materials and drug loading materials.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the mechanical responses and critical failure mechanisms of notched composite laminates with the aid of numerical and experimental approaches, considering the effect of notch geometry, notch size and off-axis angle. Quasi-static tensile tests are implemented to study the influence of design variables on the mechanical response, during which the relationship of force vs displacement and strain distributions are collected by means of digital image correlation technique. Subsequently, the numerical simulation is implemented in ABAQUS/Explicit through a progressive damage model integrated with a VUMAT subroutine. Meanwhile, the initiation and propagation of damage are explored through the damage morphologies, combining with the logarithmic strain components from numerical predictions. Results show that notch strength and failure strain are more closely associated with off-axis angle and notch size compared with notch geometry. In addition, with the increase of off-axis angle, the contribution of fiber is increasingly weakened, the damage mode gradually varies from fiber fracture to pull out accompanied with the damage near the notch changing from fiber fracture to delamination. Meanwhile, the critical failure mechanism varies from tension dominated to tension-shear/ shear dominated as the off-axis angle grows larger. K E Y W O R D S composite laminates, digital image correlation, failure mechanism, notch strength 1 | INTRODUCTION Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate has been increasingly applied in light of its outstanding performance and superior damage tolerance. Compared with traditional materials, it has many typical advantages, such as high specific strength and stiffness, [1-3] improved impact and fatigue resistance, [4-6] perfect corrosion resistance and moistureproof ability, [7] and so forth. During the application, in addition to the complicated loading conditions, the unavoidable notches for mechanical connections also pose a risk to the load-bearing capacity and service life. In addition, notch geometry and notch size are usually diversified to facilitate the connection of structural components, which significantly diminishes the mechanical properties and further complicates the exploration of mechanical behaviors. Furthermore, due to the anisotropy, brittleness, heterogeneity, and obvious difference between the interlaminar and intralaminar property, damage patterns, and failure mechanisms of composites also present complexity and diversity. [8]

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The extruded Mg-6Li-4Zn-xMn (x = 0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 wt%) alloys were prepared, and the microstructure of the test alloys was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The corrosion properties were determined by electrochemical measurements and immersion measurements in 3.5% NaCl solution. The results indicate that the extruded Mg-6Li-4Zn-xMn alloys are mainly composed of α-Mg phase, β-Li phase, Mn precipitates and some intermetallic compounds (MgLi 2 Zn). With the addition of Mn, stable corrosion products were formed on the surface of the test alloy, which can effectively inhibit further corrosion progress and improve the corrosion resistance. Mg-6Li-4Zn-1.2Mn alloy exhibits the best corrosion resistance, attributed to grain refinement, the improvement of the stability of corrosion product film and uniform distribution of fine second phases.

Purpose Carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials offer superior mechanical properties and lower weight than conventional metal products. However, relatively, little is known about the environmental impacts and economic costs associated with composite products displacing conventional metal products. The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated life cycle assessment and life cycle costing framework for composite materials in the aviation industry. Methods An integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) framework has been developed. The displacement of a conventional aluminium door for an aircraft by a composite door is presented as an example of the use of this framework. A graphical visualisation tool is proposed to model the integrated environmental and economic performances of this displacement. LCA and LCC models for composite applications are developed accordingly. The environmental hotspots are identified, and the sensitivity of the environmental impact results to the different composite waste treatment routes is performed. Subsequently, the research suggests a learning curve to analyse the unit price for competitive mass production. Sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation have been applied to demonstrate the cost result changes caused by data uncertainty. Results Energy consumption was the hotspot, and the choice of composite waste treatment routes had a negligible effect on the LCA outcomes. Concerning the costs, the most significant cost contribution for the unit door production was labour. The future door production cost was decreased by about 29% based on the learning curve theory. The uncertainties associated with the variables could lead to variations in the production cost of up to about 16%. The comparison between the two doors shows that the composite door had higher potential environmental impacts and cost compared to the conventional aluminium door during the production stage. However, the composite door would have better environmental and financial performance if a weight reduction of 47% was achieved in future designs. Conclusions The proposed framework and relevant analysis models were applied through a case study in the aerospace industry, creating a site-specific database for the community to support material selection and product development. The graphical tool was proved to be useful in representing a graphical visualisation comparison based on the integration of the LCA and LCC results of potential modifications to the composite door against the reference door, providing understandable information to the decision-makers.