The swelling behavior of fully neutralized sodium polyacrylate gels was investigated in aqueous solutions of alkali metal (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, CsCl) and alkaline earth metal salts (CaCl2, SrCl2, BaCl2). The total salt concentration and the ratio of monovalent to divalent cations were varied in the biologically significant range. It is found that the concentrations of both monovalent and divalent c...

The shear modulus of solid neutron star crust is calculated by the thermodynamic perturbation theory, taking into account ion motion. At a given density, the crust is modelled as a bodycentred cubic Coulomb crystal of fully ionized atomic nuclei of one type with a uniform charge-compensating electron background. Classic and quantum regimes of ion motion are considered. The calculations in the c...

Tissue scaffolds provide structural support while facilitating tissue growth, but are challenging to design due to diverse property trade-offs. Here, a computational approach was developed for modeling scaffolds with lattice structures of eight different topologies and assessing properties relevant to bone tissue engineering applications. Evaluated properties include porosity, pore size, surfac...

An inverse method is used to characterize the membrane mechanical behavior of liquid filled microcapsules. Cross-linked ovalbumin microcapsules are flowed and deformed into a cylindrical microchannel of comparable size. The deformed shape is compared to predictions obtained numerically when modeling a capsule under the same flow conditions. The unknown shear modulus value corresponds to the bes...

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are mainly composed of magnetizable particles and elastic polymer. The polymer matrix plays an important role in mechanical performances of MREs. In this study, the polyurethane (PU), which is synthesized by using toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and poly (propylene glycol) (PPG-220), is selected as a matrix because it has better degradation stability than natural...

In this thesis a Mode Coupling Theory (MCT) equation is derived that calculates the shear modulus for multi-component colloidal mixtures in two-dimensional systems in linear approximation. With this equation, the plateau shear modulus G∞ is calculated for two two-dimensional systems at the glass transition: for a binary mixture of hard spheres and for a binary mixture of dipolar particles. The ...

in this study, hybrid of phenol formaldehyde-fish glue was used to replace the chemical resin in plywood manufacturing. for this purpose, fish glue was applied at three levels including 0, 10 and 20 percent based on the dry weight of resin. physical and mechanical properties of manufactured plywoods were measured. thickness swelling after 2 and 24 hours immersion in tap water, bending strength,...

Eighteen years ago, Fredrickson et al. [Macromolecules 1992, 25, 2882-2889] predicted that a molten polymer brush possesses a shear modulus that would cause its surface structure to deviate from a liquid. Their prediction, though broadly used, has been largely unchecked. Here, we present experimental data on polystyrene brushes that validate Fredrickson et al.’s prediction. We also present data...

Cherkaev-Gibiansky and Hashin-Shtrikman variational principles are utilized in order to obtain rigorous bounds on the shear modulus of two-phase viscoelastic composites in three dimensions. The simplest class of bounding regions is composed of circles in the complex plane containing four points related to the viscoelastic moduli of the constituents. By taking the intersection of all such circle...