Seminar Schedule – Spring 2021
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Time: 3:30pm – 5:00pm
This seminar will be held virtually via Zoom in email announcement
Modeling of Viscoelastocapillary Phenomena in Soft Solids
Dr. Berkin Dortdivanlioglu, University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Abstract: To date, the mechanics of interfaces of soft solids, e.g., polymeric gels, remain elusive. Mechanical properties of the bulk gel can differ from those at the boundary due to the fundamental role of surface tension and lower-dimensional energetics at length scales ranging from nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. From a theoretical perspective, classical continuum mechanics is size-independent and hence lacks a physical length scale. However, a characteristic size effect in material response can be captured in continuum models by accounting for the energetic competition between the bulk gel and its boundary. This energetic competition results in the elastocapillary length scale, and it plays an important role in cavitation, soft composites, elastic wetting, adhesive failure, and pattern formations such as beading, creasing, and wrinkling at various length scales.
A central challenge in understanding the behaviors of soft solids at small scales is elucidating the nonlinear effects due to complex surface stresses, e.g., viscous effects. In this presentation, I will develop a computational framework modeling viscoelastic polymeric materials with surface (finite) viscoelasticity using a geometrically exact isogeometric finite element approach and elucidate nonlinear bulk-boundary coupling effects on the overall deformation behaviors. The surface viscoelasticity enriches the nonlinearities in the creep and relaxation behaviors of the coupled structure and further introduces characteristic length and time scales as well as time-dependent surface tension into the problem. The proposed methodology provides a robust computational foundation to study viscoelastocapillary deformations at soft gels. Extensions of this work toward hydrogels are promising in that surface and bulk can show distinctive mechanical, diffusional, and other multiphysical behaviors. The couplings between surface and bulk and the couplings between different fields can lead to a wide range of exciting properties and applications yet to be explored.
For further information, please contact Dr. Rui Huang at ruihuang@mail.utexas.edu or (512) 471-7558.