| Issue |
EPL
Volume 78, Number 5, June 2007
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 56005 | |
| Number of page(s) | 5 | |
| Section | Condensed Matter: Structural, Mechanical and Thermal Properties | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/78/56005 | |
| Published online | 22 May 2007 | |
A local damage model for anomalous high toughness of double-network gels
Creative Research Initiative Sousei, Hokkaido University - Sapporo 001-0021, Japan
Received:
19
January
2007
Accepted:
25
April
2007
We present a phenomenological model for anomalously high fracture energy of double-network (DN) gels, which consist of a substantially cross-linked polyelectrolyte gel (first network) and of a quite poorly cross-linked neutral polymer (second network) penetrating into the first network (Gong J. P., Katsuyama Y., Kurokawa T. and Osada Y., Adv. Mater., 15 (2003) 1155). The model assumes that the material locally softens around crack tip due to damage of the first network, and then the crack extends within the softened zone. An order estimation indicates that energy dissipation by the softening greatly exceeds the “bare fracture energy” of the softened material, and that the effective fracture energy can reach the order of 
. This is consistent with the experimental value 
.
PACS: 61.41.+e – Polymers, elastomers, and plastics / 62.20.Mk – Fatigue, brittleness, fracture, and cracks / 81.05.Qk – Reinforced polymers and polymer-based composites
© Europhysics Letters Association, 2007
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.