Simulation of fracture behaviour of hydrogel by discrete element method

Abstract

The determination of fracture properties of hydrogels is of great importance while the hydrogel is used as medical scaffold or soft robotic. The simulations of the mechanical properties were used to reduce the experiment cost and improve efficiency. Here, the work presents a novel method to simulate the fracture behaviour of hydrogels based on discrete element method. Different with continuous methods, the hydrogel was characterised by number of particles. The viscoelastic model and bonding model within the particle model were applied to simulate the microscopic structure of hydrogels. By changing the critical parameters in the model, hydrogels with different mechanical properties were also simulated. Puncture compression test and uniaxial tensile test based on the model were performed. The fracture morphology, stress and strain during the tests were simulated. The results show that the model provides a novel and effective tool to simulate the fracture process of hydrogels.

An energy-optimization method to study gel-swelling in confinement

“…In addition, careful application of refinement could be used to accommodate topological changes, or straindependent connectivity energies could be incorporated in order to study the fracture of hydrogels. 36,37 Author contributions CJ, MQG and TJA developed the theoretical model and implemented the code. CJ obtained the simulation data and analyzed the results.…”

“…In addition, careful application of refinement could be used to accommodate topological changes, or strain-dependent connectivity energies could be incorporated in order to study the fracture of hydrogels. 36,37…”

Plants control soil gas exchanges possibly via mucilage

“…Lattice–Boltzmann methods are a suitable tool to simulate the pore scale dynamics of liquids ( Sukop and Or , 2004; Tuller and Or , 2004; Pot et al, 2015; Richefeu et al, 2016). To simulate dynamics of the highly concentrated, rather solid mucilage, we applied the discrete element method which is a common tool to describe deformation and rupture processes of solids ( Munjiza et al, 1995; Bobet et al, 2009) and has also been used to simulate fracture of hydrogels ( Kimber et al, 2012; Yang et al, 2018). Using the description of highly concentrated mucilage as a network spanning across the pore space, one can explain the formation of hollow cylinders between particles (Fig.…”

Linking rhizosphere processes across scales: Opinion

“…Lattice-Boltzmann methods are common tools to simulate pore scale dynamics of liquids (Pot et al 2015;Richefeu et al 2016;Sukop and Or 2004;Tuller and Or 2005). Discrete element methods are tools to describe deformation and rupture processes of solids (Bobet et al 2009) and have been used to simulate fracture of hydrogels (Kimber et al 2012;Yang et al 2018). While most hydrogel simulations consider free hydrogels, here, we study hydrogel deformation confined by the pore space and attached to soil particle surfaces.…”