Characterization of Shear Strain on PDMS: Numerical and Experimental Approaches

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most popular elastomers and has been used in different fields, especially in biomechanics research. Among the many interesting features of this material, its hyperelastic behavior stands out, which allows the use of PDMS in various applications, like the ones that mimic soft tissues. However, the hyperelastic behavior is not linear and needs detailed analysis, especially the characterization of shear strain. In this work, two approaches, numerical and experimental, were proposed to characterize the effect of shear strain on PDMS. The experimental method was implemented as a simple shear testing associated with 3D digital image correlation and was made using two specimens with two thicknesses of PDMS (2 and 4 mm). A finite element software was used to implement the numerical simulations, in which four different simulations using the Mooney–Rivlin, Yeoh, Gent, and polynomial hyperelastic constitutive models were performed. These approaches showed that the maximum value of shear strain occurred in the central region of the PDMS, and higher values emerged for the 2 mm PDMS thickness. Qualitatively, in the central area of the specimen, the numerical and experimental results have similar behaviors and the values of shear strain are close. For higher values of displacement and thicknesses, the numerical simulation results move further away from experimental values.

Polydimethylsiloxane Composites Characterization and Its Applications: A Review

“…One of the most promising elastomers is the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). It is a highly used silicon-based polymer with good chemical and thermal stability [ 4 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], biocompatibility [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], corrosion resistance [ 21 , 22 ], flexibility [ 23 , 24 , 25 ], repeatability [ 26 ], a low cost [ 27 ], ease of use, chemically inertia, hyperplastic characteristics, and gas permeability [ 3 , 28 ]. Thus, PDMS has been used in several fields and systems (see Figure 1 ), such as microfluidics and nanofluidics [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], biomodels [ 38 , 39 ], organ-on-a-chip platforms [ 40 , 41 ], blood analogues [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ], electronic components [ 47 ], membranes for filtering and pervaporation [ 48 , 49 , 50 ], sensors [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], optical and thermal devices [ 54 , 55 , 56 ], coatings [ 57 , 58 , 59 ], etc.…”

Composite Material of PDMS with Interchangeable Transmittance: Study of Optical, Mechanical Properties and Wettability

“…This wide range of applications is justified by the desirable properties presented by this polymer, PDMS, a silicone based on organic polymers that is non-toxic, non-flammable, and known as a material for which processing is simple with good repeatability and low cost. It is also an optically transparent material [11,25], biocompatible [26][27][28], highly flexible [29,30], waterproof [31], viscoelastic, and chemically and thermally stable [32][33][34].…”

Stretchable Thermoelectric Generators Based on Bulk Bi2Te3and Liquid Metals

“…To understand the hyperelastic behaviors of PDMS, constitutive models of Mooney–Rivlin, Yeoh, and Ogden models based were constructed to undercover the hyperelastic properties of PDMS. [ 18–20 ] The results show that PDMS has a better fit with the Yeoh model, which indicates strain hardening may occur upon large deformation (Figure S1, Supporting Information). This deduction was further proved by our experimental characterizations.…”