Expansion Instabilities of Tube-Like Defects in Polymer Gels Subjected to Hydrostatic Pressure

ORAL

Abstract

Cavitation in soft solids is defined as the unstable expansion of a void within a body subjected to a negative hydrostatic pressure. Classically this expansion has been modeled assuming an initially spherical cavity, but the advent of needle-induced cavitation makes an initially cylindrical geometry experimentally relevant. Tube-like defects of varying aspect ratio are first created at the tip of a needle by incorporating a retraction step to the needle insertion process after puncturing soft polymer gels. Instability-like expansion of the cylindrical defects is then experimentally observed at pressures comparable to those expected of a spherical geometry. Complementary modeling shows that the change in initial geometry has little effect on the critical cavitation pressure. Together these measurements demonstrate that the onset pressure of instability-like expansion of cylindrical voids in soft gels does not deviate considerably from the classical spherical model which enables the confident measurement of local elastic properties in soft gels and biological tissues.

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Presenters

  • Christopher Barney

    University of Massachusetts Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts

Authors

  • Christopher Barney

    University of Massachusetts Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts

  • Yue Zheng

    Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, Mechanical Engineering, University of California San Diego, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, California

  • Shengqiang Cai

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California, San Diego, University of California, San Diego, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, Mechanical Engineering, University of California San Diego, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, California

  • Alfred Crosby

    University of Massachusetts Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, Univ of Mass - Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, UMass Amherst, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst