Hyperelastic modeling of solid methyl cellulose hydrogel under quasi-static compression.

Abstract

Constitutive modeling of solid methyl cellulose (MC) hydrogels under quasi-static uniaxial compression is presented for a variety of compositions and test temperatures. Five constitutive models of varying complexity are examined, with the aim to identify the simplest accurate material representation. Due to the viscosity of the gel, the models were calibrated using compression tests only, with restrictions that ensure stability for other loading modes. It is found that of all the tested models, the second order polynomial constitutive model fulfills the requirements of simplicity and accuracy both for compression and predicted tension.