Swell induced stress in a hydrogel coating

• Published in: Acta mechanica Sinica Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 797 - 802
• Main Authors: Wang, Shuyang, Wang, Zhengjin, Yang, Yan, Lu, Tongqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 01.05.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Edition: English ed.
• Subjects: Antifouling coatings; Bonding; Boundary value problems; Classical and Continuum Physics; Computational Intelligence; Coupling; Deformation; Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Hydrogels; Interfacial bonding; Interfacial cracks; Microfluidics; Research Paper; Stress analysis; Stress distribution; Substrates; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Swell; Hydrogel coating; Interfacial crack; Boundary value problem
• ISSN: 0567-7718; 1614-3116
• DOI: 10.1007/s10409-021-01093-z

A hydrogel can be coated on various substrates to enable multiple functions. Potential applications include biomedical devices, anti-fouling surfaces and microfluidics. In practical use, hydrogel coatings are often submerged in fluids. The swell of hydrogel coating deteriorates the interfacial bonding with the substrate. This paper presents a stress analysis of a hydrogel coating on a cylindrical metal substrate. We adopt the thermodynamic theory coupling large deformation and water migration and formulate two boundary value problems for the coating–substrate system with and without an interfacial crack. The inhomogeneous stress fields in the hydrogel coating are obtained. The influences of modulus, thickness of the hydrogel coating on the maximum radial stress at the interface are analyzed. These results may guide the design of hydrogel coating to avoid interfacial failure. Graphic abstract The swell of a hydrogel coating deteriorates the interfacial bonding with the substrate. This paper presents a stress analysis of a hydrogel coating on a cylindrical metal substrate. We adopt the thermodynamic theory coupling large deformation and water migration, formulate two boundary value problems for the coating–substrate system with and without an interfacial crack, and obtain the inhomogeneous stress fields. These results may guide the design of hydrogel coating in future applications.