The process of tooth displacement in response to orthodontic forces is thought to be induced by the stresses and strains in the periodontium. The mechanical force on the tooth is transmitted to the alveolar bone through a layer of soft connective tissue, the periodontal ligament. Stress and/or strain distribution in this layer must be derived from mathematical models, such as the finite element method, because it cannot be measured directly in a non-destructive way. The material behaviour of the constituent tissues is required as an input for such a model. The purpose of this study was to determine the time-dependent mechanical behaviour of the periodontal ligament due to orthodontic loading of a tooth. Therefore, in vivo experiments were performed on beagle dogs. The experimental configuration was simulated in a finite element model to estimate the poroelastic material properties for the periodontal ligament. The experiments showed a two-step response: an instantaneous displacement of 14.10 ± 3.21 μm within 4 s and a more gradual (creep) displacement reaching a maximum of 60.00 ± 9.92 μm after 5 h. This response fitted excellently in the finite element model when 21 per cent of the ligament volume was assigned a permeability of 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁴m⁴/Ns, the remaining 97 per cent was assigned a permeability of 2.5 × 10⁻¹⁷ m⁴/N s. A tissue elastic modulus of 0.015 ± 0.001 MPa was estimated. Our results indicate that fluid compartments within the periodontal ligament play an important role in the transmission and damping of forces acting on teeth.

This paper first examines the commonly-used thermal-moisture analogy approach in thermal-moisture analogy approach. We conclude that such an analogy using a normalized concentration approach does not exist in the case of soldering reflow, when the solubility of each diffusing material varies with temperature or the saturated moisture concentration is not a constant over an entire range of reflow temperatures. The whole field vapor pressure distribution of a flip chip BGA package at reflow is obtained based on a multiscale vapor pressure model. Results reveal that moisture diffusion and vapor pressure have different distributions and are not proportional. The vapor pressure in the package saturates much faster than the moisture diffusion during reflow. This implies that the vapor pressure reaches the saturated pressure level in an early stage of moisture absorption, even the package is far from moisture saturated. However, the interfacial adhesion degrades continuously with moisture absorption. Therefore, the package moisture sensitivity performance will largely reply on the adhesion strength at elevated temperature with moisture. A specially designed experiment with a selection of six different underfills for flip chip packages was conducted. Results confirm that there is no correlation between moisture absorption and the subsequent interface delamination at reflow. The adhesion at high temperature with moisture is the only key modulator that correlates well with test data. Such a parameter is a comprehensive indicator, which includes the effects of thermal mismatch, vapor pressure, temperature and moisture. In this paper, a micromechanics based mechanism analysis on interfacial delamination is also presented. With the implementation of interface properties into the model study, it shows that the critical stress, which results in the unstable void growth and delamination at interface, is significantly reduced when the effect of moisture on debonding is considered.

In this paper, degradation mechanisms of optical materials, used in the light emitting diode (LED)-based products, are reviewed. The LED lighting is one of the fastest technology shifts in human history. Lighting accounts for almost 20% of the global electrical energy use, inferring that replacement of traditional lighting sources with LEDs with higher efficiencies will have major positive implications for the global energy consumption. Organic optical materials are key components in LEDs in the sense that they control the functionality of the device and they have decisive effects on the durability and reliability of LEDs. This paper aims at describing the influences of chemical structure and service conditions on the degradation mechanisms of organic optical materials in LEDs which lead to the lumen depreciation, discolouration, and colour shift of the LED light output. The contributions of different degradation mechanisms of optical and package materials in LED-based products to the lumen depreciation and colour shift are methodically reviewed.

Commercially available gravimeters and seismometers can be used for measuring Earth’s acceleration at resolution levels in the order of $${\mathrm{ng}}/\sqrt {\mathrm{Hz}}$$ng ∕ Hz (where g represents earth’s gravity) but they are typically high-cost and bulky. In this work the design of a bulk micromachined MEMS device exploiting non-linear buckling behaviour is described, aiming for $${\mathrm{ng}}/\sqrt {\mathrm{Hz}}$$ng ∕ Hz resolution by maximising mechanical and capacitive sensitivity. High mechanical sensitivity is obtained through low structural stiffness. Near-zero stiffness is achieved through geometric design and large deformation into a region where the mechanism is statically balanced or neutrally stable. Moreover, the device has an integrated capacitive comb transducer and makes use of a high-resolution impedance readout ASIC. The sensitivity from displacement to a change in capacitance was maximised within the design and process boundaries given, by making use of a trench isolation technique and exploiting the large-displacement behaviour of the device. The measurement results demonstrate that the resonance frequency can be tuned from 8.7 Hz–18.7 Hz, depending on the process parameters and the tilt of the device. In this system, which combines an integrated capacitive transducer with a sensitivity of 2.55 aF/nm and an impedance readout chip, the theoretically achievable system resolution equals 17.02 $${\mathrm{ng}}/\sqrt {\mathrm{Hz}}$$ng ∕ Hz . The small size of the device and the use of integrated readout electronics allow for a wide range of practical applications for data collection aimed at the internet of things.

The present study focuses on the development of reliable response surface models (RSM’s) for the major packaging processes of a typical electronic package. The major objective is to optimize the product/process designs against the possible failure mode of vertical die cracks. First, the finite element mode (FEM)-based physics of failure models are developed and the reliability of the predicted stress levels was verified by experiments. In the development of reliable thermo-mechanical simulation models, both the process (time and temperature) dependent material nonlinearity and geometric nonlinearity are taken into account. Afterwards, RSM’s covering the whole specified geometric design spaces are constructed. Finally, these RSM’s are used to predict, evaluate, optimize, and eventually qualify the thermo-mechanical behavior of this electronic package against the actual design requirements prior to major physical prototyping and manufacturing investments.