Analytical solutions for bilayered spherical hydrogel subjected to constant dilatation

• Main Authors: Wang, Dong, Wu, M. S.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Mechanics and dynamics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/98204; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17471
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The application of multilayered hydrogel capsules in biomedical engineering has stimulated much interest in the mechanics of soft matter. Based on second-order elasticity theory, this paper presents analytical solutions for a spherically symmetric bilayered hydrogel subjected to a constant dilatation. The results show that: (1) elastic nonlinearity and inhomogeneity play a crucial role in the mechanical state, (2) a wide range of mechanical states can be designed for specific applications by manipulating the layer elasticity and interface position, and (3) the displacement and stresses can be characterized by a reduced set of eight geometric–elastic constants.