Degree Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2018

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Major

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Wei Hong

Abstract

Double-network hydrogels have drawn much attention for its combined mechanical properties of high stretchability and high mechanical strength and numerous studies have been conducted on these hydrogels with specific emphasis on gel compositions and mechanisms. Additionally, there are also reports on application of double-network gel mechanisms on macro composites which achieved similar results as in the gels. In this thesis, a series of numerical simulations on designing and tuning of a double-network hydrogel inspired non-polymeric composite formed with a coiled serpentine network acting as the long-chain and a solid plate acting as the short-chain are presented. The simulation results show that the designed non-polymeric double-network composite exhibits a very similar damage process to the double-network hydrogels which confirms the possibility of applying the double-network toughening mechanism to fabricate tough non-polymeric composite. The further analysis of the simulation results also provided a peep into the roles of the various structural parameters of the composite, which may help to improve the understanding of the double-network mechanism and optimize the design.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31274/etd-180810-6126

Copyright Owner

Qitong Yao

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

File Size

37 pages

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