کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
793278 | 1467108 | 2006 | 29 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
An elastomeric gel is a cross-linked polymer network swollen with a solvent, and certain gels can undergo large reversible volume changes as they are cycled about a critical temperature. We have developed a continuum-level theory to describe the coupled mechanical deformation, fluid permeation, and heat transfer of such thermally responsive gels. In discussing special constitutive equations we limit our attention to isotropic materials, and consider a model based on a Flory–Huggins model for the free energy change due to mixing of the fluid with the polymer network, coupled with a non-Gaussian statistical–mechanical model for the change in configurational entropy—a model which accounts for the limited extensibility of polymer chains. We have numerically implemented our theory in a finite element program. We show that our theory is capable of simulating swelling, squeezing of fluid by applied mechanical forces, and thermally responsive swelling/de-swelling of such materials.
Journal: Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids - Volume 59, Issue 10, October 2011, Pages 1978–2006