Mechanical Properties of the Skeleton of Acropora Cervicornis
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University of Central Florida STARS Honors Undergraduate Theses UCF Theses and Dissertations 2018 Mechanical Properties of the Skeleton of Acropora Cervicornis Bridget Masa University of Central Florida Part of the Biology Commons, and the Mechanical Engineering Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the UCF Theses and Dissertations at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Masa, Bridget, "Mechanical Properties of the Skeleton of Acropora Cervicornis" (2018). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 396. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/396 MECHANCIAL PROPERTIES OF THE SKELETON OF ACROPORA CERVICORNIS by BRIDGET A. MASA A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program in Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and in the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term, 2018 Thesis Chair: Nina Orlovskaya, PhD. i Abstract This research explores the instantaneous mechanical behavior of the skeleton of the critically endangered staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis. Both bleached and sanded skeletons were used in this experiment. The Raman spectroscopy test showed that there was no significant change in the Raman shift between the three branches tested. The shifts were nearly identical to Raman shifts of calcium carbonate. Vickers hardness test found that 1 Bleached had the average hardness of 3.44 GPa with a standard deviation of 0.12 GPa. The sanded sample also had a similar value of 3.54 GPa with a standard deviation of 0.13 GPa. Samples from 2 Bleached had a hardness value that was significantly lower at only 2.68 GPa with a standard deviation of 0.37 GPa. The axial compressive stress test determined that the average strength for the bleached samples was 18.98 MPa and for the sanded, 29.16 MPa. This information can be used to assist in the restoration of this species. ii Dedication In dedication to my hard working parents Alan and Silvia Masa. For the many opportunities they have given me along with their constant support and words of encouragement Thank you. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people who helped me over the course of conducting my research and writing this thesis: Dr. Nina Orlovskaya, my thesis chair and mentor, for graciously taking me on as a part of her team and for her kindness and constant guidance throughout this research. Dr. David Gilliam of Nova Southeastern University, for providing me with these beautiful corals. Dr. John Fauth, for being a member of my thesis committee and for entrusting me with this research that he had so much excitement for. Dr. Ghatu Subhash at the University of Florida, for allowing me access to his lab and indentation machine. Dr. Romain Guame, for allowing me to use his diamond saw and for sparking my interest and understanding of materials during his Structures and Properties of Materials class. Dr. Ranajay Ghosh, for being a member of my thesis committee and for helping me better understand the structure of the coral I was working with. Lastly, a special thanks to my friend and mentor Alejandro Carrasco-Pena. I can’t thank you enough for the help you’ve given me throughout this entire process from start to finish. Thank you for your constant guidance, patience, willingness to answer questions, and for doing all of it with a smile. You truly made this experience a joy. This research was supported in part by MRI NSF project “133775” Development of a Multi-Scale Thermal-Mechanical-Spectroscopic System for in-Situ Materials Characterization, Research and Training. iv Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Microorganisms in Corals ..................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Structure of Coral Skeletons ................................................................................................. 4 2.2.1 Chemical Composition ................................................................................................... 5 2.2.2 Crystal and Microstructure ............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Mechanical Behavior of Coral Skeletons .............................................................................. 9 2.3.1 Vickers Hardness ............................................................................................................ 9 2.3.2 Compressive Strength ..................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Raman Spectroscopy Analysis ............................................................................................ 12 3. Goals ......................................................................................................................................... 13 4. Materials and Methods .............................................................................................................. 14 4.1 Raman Spectroscopy Analysis ............................................................................................ 15 4.2 Micro-images ...................................................................................................................... 15 4.3 Vickers Micro Hardness Test .............................................................................................. 17 4.4 Compression Tests .............................................................................................................. 17 5. Results ....................................................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Raman Spectroscopy Analysis ............................................................................................ 19 5.2 Vickers Hardness ................................................................................................................. 19 5.3 Compression Tests .............................................................................................................. 20 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 23 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 24 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................... 43 References ..................................................................................................................................... 45 v List of Tables Table 1: Summary of Previous Literature Results .......................................................................... 9 Table 2: Hardness Results of Polished Samples ........................................................................... 19 Table 3: Bleached Samples: Max Peak, Mentionable Peaks, and Mean Max Peak Stress ........... 21 Table 4: Sanded Samples: Max Peak, Mentionable Peaks, and Mean Max Peak Stress Results . 21 Table 5: Dimensions of Polished Coral Samples .......................................................................... 25 Table 6: Dimensions of 1 Bleached Coral Samples ...................................................................... 25 Table 7: Dimensions of 2 Bleached Coral Samples ...................................................................... 25 Table 8: Dimensions of 3 Sanded Coral Samples ......................................................................... 25 Table 9: Vickers Hardness of 1 Bleached and Polished Sample .................................................. 32 Table 10: Vickers Hardness of 2 Bleached and Polished Sample ................................................ 34 Table 11: Vickers Hardness of 3 Sanded Sample ......................................................................... 36 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Acropora cervicornis ....................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2: Diseased Acropora cervicornis ....................................................................................... 2 Figure 3: Structure of coral tissue ................................................................................................... 3 Figure 4: Bleached coral skeletons ................................................................................................. 4 Figure 5: Morphological skeleton features common to all stony corals ......................................... 6 Figure 6: Growth process ................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 7: Working model of coral biomineralization ..................................................................... 8 Figure 8: Sketch of growth of the coral axial corallite ................................................................... 8 Figure