Loading...

Inhomogeneous swelling behavior of temperature sensitive PNIPAM hydrogels in micro-valves: Analytical and numerical study

Mazaheri, H ; Sharif University of Technology | 2015

732 Viewed
  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1088/0964-1726/24/4/045004
  3. Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing , 2015
  4. Abstract:
  5. In this work, inhomogeneous swelling of the temperature-sensitive PNIPAM hydrogel is investigated with application to micro-valves. In this regard, a modified model is considered, and an analytical solution of the inhomogeneous swelling of a hydrogel jacket coated on a rigid pillar is performed, which is valuable for the conceptual design of the micro-valve. Then, finite element implementation of the modified model is carried out, and its validity is verified by both the analytical and experimental results. Thereafter, thermo-mechanical behavior of the micro-valve is investigated considering the coupling between the inhomogeneous swelling of the jacket and contact problems due to the temperature changes. Finally, a comprehensive study on the effects of the geometrical and material parameters in the micro-valve design is performed, and the results are presented
  6. Keywords:
  7. Inhomogeneous swelling ; Micro-valve design ; Temperature sensitive PNIPAM hydrogels ; Conceptual design ; Design ; Finite element method ; Swelling ; Valves (mechanical) ; Contact problem ; Finite element implementation ; Material parameter ; Micro valves ; Swelling behavior ; Temperature changes ; Temperature sensitive ; Thermo-mechanical behaviors ; Hydrogels
  8. Source: Smart Materials and Structures ; Volume 24, Issue 4 , February , 2015 ; 09641726 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0964-1726/24/4/045004/meta