Journal article 664 views 535 downloads
A comprehensive thermo-viscoelastic experimental investigation of Ecoflex polymer
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Xiaohu Yao,
Rukshan Navaratne,
Gregory Chagnon
Polymer Testing, Volume: 86, Start page: 106478
Swansea University Author:
Mokarram Hossain
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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2020.106478
Abstract
Silicone polymers have enormous applications, especially in the areas of biomedical engineering. Ecoflex, a commercially available room temperature cured silicone polymer, has attracted considerable attention due to its wide range of applications as medical-grade silicones and as matrix materials in...
| Published in: | Polymer Testing |
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| ISSN: | 0142-9418 1873-2348 |
| Published: |
Elsevier BV
2020
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53806 |
| Abstract: |
Silicone polymers have enormous applications, especially in the areas of biomedical engineering. Ecoflex, a commercially available room temperature cured silicone polymer, has attracted considerable attention due to its wide range of applications as medical-grade silicones and as matrix materials in producing nano-filled stretchable sensors and dielectric elastomers for soft robotics. In this contribution, we have conducted a wide range of experiments under thermo-mechanical loadings. These experiments consist of loading-unloading cyclic tests, single-step relaxation tests, Mullins effects tests at different strain rates and stretches, stress recovery tests at different rest time, etc. In order to assess the temperature influences on Ecoflex, a number of viscoelastic tests are performed in a thermal chamber with temperature ranging from -40°C to 140°C. Extensive experimental findings illustrate that Ecoflex experiences a significant stress softening in the first cycles and such a softening recovers gradually with respect to time. It also shows a significant amount of cyclic dissipations at various stretch levels as well as a considerable stress relaxation only for virgin samples. Cyclic dissipations and stress relaxation almost disappear for the case of pre-stretched samples. Furthermore, the material is more or less sensitive under a wide range of temperature differences. |
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| Keywords: |
Ecoflex silicone rubber; Mullins effect; Stress recovery; Strain rate dependence; Temperature dependence |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
The first two authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to Zienkiewicz Centre for Computational Engineering (ZCCE), Swansea University, UK for supporting the work. This support facilitates an exchange visit of the first author to ZCCE. This work is partially supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No.11925203) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.1672110). The work is also benefited from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, SCUT (2018PY21). |
| Start Page: |
106478 |