Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Experiments And Modeling Of The Chemo-Mechanically Coupled Behavior Of Polymeric Gels, Nikola Bosnjak

Dissertations

Polymeric materials consist of mutually entangled or chemically crosslinked long njitmolecular chains which form a polymer network. Due to their molecular structure, the njitpolymeric materials are known to undergo large deformation in response to various njitenvironmental stimuli, such as temperature, chemical potential and light.

When a polymer network is exposed to a suitable chemical solvent, the solvent molecules are able to diffuse inside the network, causing it to undergo a large volumetric deformation, known as swelling. In addition to volumetric deformation, this process involves the chemical mixing of the polymer network and solvent molecules, and is typically environmentally responsive. A …

Constitutive Modeling Of Glassy Memory Polymers, Mahesh Khanolkar

Dissertations

The aim of this research is to develop constitutive models for non-linear materials. Here, issues related for developing constitutive model for glassy shape memory polymers are addressed in detail. Shape memory polymers are novel material that can be easily formed into complex shapes, retaining memory of their original shape even after undergoing large deformations. The temporary shape is stable and return to the original shape is triggered by a suitable mechanism such heating the polymer above a transition temperature. Glassy shape memory polymers are called glassy because the temporary shape is fixed by the formation of a glassy solid, while …

Constitutive Modeling Of The Thermo-Mechanics Associated With Crystallizable Shape Memory Polymers, Gautam Barot

Dissertations

This research addresses issues central to material modeling and process simulations. Here, issues related for developing constitutive model for crystallizable shape memory polymers are addressed in details. Shape memory polymers are novel material that can be easily formed into complex shapes, retaining memory of their original shape even after undergoing large deformations. The temporary shape is stable and return to the original shape is triggered by a suitable mechanism such heating the polymer above a transition temperature. Crystallizable shape memory polymers are called crystallizable because the temporary shape is fixed by a crystalline phase, while return to the original shape …