Experimental characterization of a coupled deformation-diffusion theory for elastomeric materials

Certain cross-liked polymer networks can absorb solvents and swell far beyond their initial volume, a useful property which may be exploited in a variety of applications. In this thesis, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples were swollen in pentane in order to experimentally characterize the transient and steady-state swelling behavior of this system, and to extract material properties in order to fully characterize a coupled deformation-diffusion theory. Free swelling experiments, transient swelling force measurements, and an analysis of the swollen geometry of a PDMS bilayer strip were performed, and compared to numerical simulations. The experimental results and numerical simulations were shown to be in good agreement.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Watson, Sterling (Sterling Marina)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lallit Anand.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98753

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/98753