Modelling of 3‐D Linear Viscoelastic Swelling of Charged Tissues and Gels

The skeleton of hydrated tissues or gels exhibits flow‐independent viscoelastic properties 2] which are strongly coupled with the dissipative phenomena resulting from the interstitial fluid flow and the electrochemical swelling mechanisms 4]. Following this, it is the goal of this contribution to combine a linear viscoelasticity formulation with an electrochemical swelling theory in the framework of a well‐founded multiphasic concept. Proceeding from a macroscopic mixture approach, the governing equations can be expressed in terms of three primary variables, namely the solid displacement u _S, the effective pore‐fluid pressure p and the molar salt concentration c_m of the interstitial fluid.