Campus Units
Mechanical Engineering, Neuroscience
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Submitted Manuscript
Publication Date
7-2019
Journal or Book Title
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Volume
95
First Page
180
Last Page
190
DOI
10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.04.005
Abstract
The ongoing conflict against terrorism has resulted in an escalation of blast-induced traumatic brain injuries (bTBI) caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The destructive IEDs create a blast wave that travels through the atmosphere. Blast-induced traumatic brain injuries, attributed to the blast wave, can cause life-threatening injuries and fatalities. This study aims to find a surrogate brain material for assessing the effectiveness of head protection systems designed to mitigate bTBI. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is considered as the surrogate brain material. The stiffness of PDMS (Sylgard 184, Dow Corning Corp.) can be controlled by varying the ratio of base and curing agent. Cylindrical PDMS specimen with ratios of 1:10, 1:70, and 1:80 were subjected to unconfined compression experiments at linear rates of 5 mm/min, 50 mm/min, and 500 mm/min. A ramp-hold strain profile was used to simulate a stress relaxation experiment. The fractional Zener viscoelastic model was used to describe the stress relaxation response, after optimization of the material constants for the brain surrogate and shock wave exposure brain tissue. The results show that the low cost PDMS can be used as a surrogate brain material to study the dynamic brain response to blast wave exposure.
Copyright Owner
Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright Date
2019
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Ling; Jackson, William J.; and Bentil, Sarah A., "The mechanical behavior of brain surrogates manufactured from silicone elastomers" (2019). Mechanical Engineering Publications. 352.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/me_pubs/352
Included in
Biology and Biomimetic Materials Commons, Biomechanical Engineering Commons, Polymer and Organic Materials Commons
Comments
This is a manuscript of an article published as Zhang, Ling, William J. Jackson, and Sarah A. Bentil. "The mechanical behavior of brain surrogates manufactured from silicone elastomers." Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials 95 (2019): 180-190. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.04.005. Posted with permission.