Large deformation and electrochemistry of polyelectrolyte gels

Immersed in an ionic solution, a network of polyelectrolytes imbibes the solution and swells, resulting in a polyelectrolyte gel. The swelling is reversible, and the amount of swelling is regulated by ionic concentrations, mechanical forces, and electric potentials. This paper develops a field theory to couple large deformation and electrochemistry. A specific material model is described, including the effects of stretching the network, mixing the polymers with the solvent and ions, and polarizing the gel. We show that the notion of osmotic pressure in a gel has no experimental significance in general, but acquires a physical interpretation within the specific material model. The theory is used to analyze several phenomena: a gel swells freely in an ionic solution, a gel swells under a constraint of a substrate, electric double layer at the interface between the gel and the external solution, and swelling of a gel of a small size.     

Equilibrium self-polarization of clay

A condition of equilibrium between charged clay particle surfaces and the solution contained in the pore space of the rock is derived using electrical double layer theory. This condition is the relation linking the cation concentration in the middle surface of the pores with the exchange capacity of the clay, the total ion charges, and the specific surface area of the particles. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 96–103, September–October, 2007.     

Adhesive contact of a fluid-filled membrane driven by electrostatic forces

Adhesion of a particle with a substrate in presence of electrostatic interaction is an appealing area of research because of its significance in many biological and industrial applications. In this work, we study an interesting problem in which a charged flexible particle located in an electrolytic environment adheres to an oppositely charged rigid substrate due to the electrostatic attraction between them. The particle is a membrane filled with incompressible fluid and can undergo large deformation. Continuum theories are used to model the mechanics of the membrane and the electric potential in the electrolytic solution. The developed model allows us to examine the nature of the coupling between the electrostatic interaction and the deformation of the membrane. In particular, the deformation of the membrane causes non-uniform distribution of charges on its surface and significant electrostatic repulsion between these charges. This repulsion is most pronounced within and near the contact zone and provides a source of resistance to its further deformation and contact formation. As a result, the coupling between electrostatics and deformation is most significant for moderate deformation and becomes weaker for very large deformation. The relation between the total electrostatic adhesive force and the contact area shows similar scaling $(F～a^n$, where $n=3)$ to the classical Hertz theory of contact at small deformation, but the value of n increases as deformation increases. The dependence of this relation on the Debye length of the solution and the initial fluid pressure in the membrane is also investigated.     

Mesoscale modeling of microgel mechanics and kinetics through the swelling transition

The mechanics and swelling kinetics of polymeric microgels are simulated using a mesoscale computational model based on dissipative particle dynamics. Microgels are represented by a random elastic network submerged in an explicit viscous solvent. The model is used to probe the effect of different solvent conditions on the bulk modulus of the microgels. Comparison of the simulation results through the volume phase transition reveals favorable agreement with Flory-Rehner’s theory for polymeric gels. The model is also used to examine the microgel swelling kinetics, and is found to be in good agreement with Tanaka’s theory for spherical gels. The simulations show that, during the swelling process, the microgel maintains a nearly homogeneous structure, whereas deswelling is characterized by the formation of chain bundles and network coarsening.     

Effects of large deformation and material nonlinearity on spherical indentation of hyperelastic soft materials

Up to now, the indentation of hyperelastic soft materials has not been completely understood. In this paper, the spherical indentation on hyperelastic soft solids was systematically investigated through theoretical analysis and finite element method (FEM). The validation and application of the Hertzian load-displacement relation for indentation of hyperelastic soft materials were clarified, the effects of large deformation and material nonlinearity on spherical indentation of hyperelastic soft materials were analyzed and discussed. It was found that the complicated indentation behaviors of hyperelastic soft solids mainly depended on the coupling interactions of large deformation and material nonlinearity. Besides, we proposed two new nonlinear elastic contact models to separate the effects of large deformation and material nonlinearity on spherical indentation responses of hyperelastic soft solids. Our efforts might help to enhance the understanding of hyperelastic indentation problems and provided necessary instructions for the mechanical characterization of hyperelastic soft materials.     

材料生长与变形的连续介质模型:平衡方程与边界条件

本文探讨了生长变形体连续介质模型的平衡理论框架。文中首先证明了广义输运定理，根据这个定理，推导了生长变形体广义平衡方程的一般形式及其生长边界条件，并导出反映生长边界面对平衡影响的生长耦合函数。在此基础上，具体讨论了质量、动量、动量矩以及能量平衡方程，并对其中相伴出现的一些新的物理量进行了评述；此外，还根据非平衡热力学理论的局域平衡假设建立了描述生长变形体热力学过程的熵不等式。这些方程唯象反映了生长变形体在运动、变形与生长过程中各物理量之间的耦合关系与平衡规律。     

A coordinate transformation method for numerical solutions of the electric double layer and electroosmotic flows in a microchannel

The electric double layer (EDL) and electroosmotic flows (EOFs) constitute the theoretical foundations of microfluidics. Numerical solution is one of the effective means of analysis in microfluidics. In general, it is difficult to obtain an accurate numerical solution of complex EOFs because of multiphysical interactions and locally high gradients. In this paper, a new coordinate transformation method is proposed to numerically solve the Poisson–Boltzmann, Navier–Stokes and Nernst–Planck equations to study the EDL and complex EOFs in a microchannel. A series of numerical examples is presented including cases of a homogeneous, discontinous wall electric potential and a locally high wall potential. A systematic comparison of numerical solutions with and without the coordinate transformation is carried out. The numerical results indicate that the coordinate transformation effectively decreases the gradient of the electric potential, ion concentration and electroosmotic velocity in the vicinity of the solid wall, and greatly improves the stability and convergency of the solution. In a transformed coordinate system with a coarse grid, the numerical solutions can be as accurate as those in the original coordinate system with a refined grid. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear delamination buckling and expansion of functionally graded laminated piezoelectric composite shells

In this paper, an analytical method is presented to investigate the nonlinear buckling and expansion behaviors of local delaminations near the surface of functionally graded laminated piezoelectric composite shells subjected to the thermal, electrical and mechanical loads, where the mid-plane nonlinear geometrical relation of delaminations is considered. In examples, the effects of thermal loading, electric field strength, the stacking patterns of functionally graded laminated piezoelectric composite shells and the patterns of delaminations on the critical axial loading of locally delaminated buckling are described and discussed. Finally, the possible growth directions of local buckling for delaminated sub-shells are described by calculating the expanding forces along the length and short axis of the delaminated sub-shells.     

One-dimensional dynamic equations of a piezoelectric semiconductor beam with a rectangular cross section and their application in static and dynamic characteristic analysis

Within the framework of continuum mechanics, the double power series expansion technique is proposed, and a series of reduced one-dimensional (1D) equations for a piezoelectric semiconductor beam are obtained. These derived equations are universal, in which extension, flexure, and shear deformations are all included, and can be degenerated to a number of special cases, e.g., extensional motion, coupled extensional and flexural motion with shear deformations, and elementary flexural motion without shear deformations. As a typical application, the extensional motion of a ZnO beam is analyzed sequentially. It is revealed that semi-conduction has a great effect on the performance of the piezoelectric semiconductor beam, including static deformations and dynamic behaviors. A larger initial carrier density will evidently lead to a lower resonant frequency and a smaller displacement response, which is a little similar to the dissipative effect. Both the derived approximate equations and the corresponding qualitative analysis are general and widely applicable, which can clearly interpret the inner physical mechanism of the semiconductor in the piezoelectrics and provide theoretical guidance for further experimental design.