Paper Number
PO70 My Program
Session
Poster Session
Title
How gel architecture controls ductility and dissipation in single and double network gels
Presentation Date and Time
October 22, 2025 (Wednesday) 6:30
Track / Room
Poster Session / Sweeney Ballroom E+F
Authors
- Tchuenkam, Rose B. (Georgetown University, Physics)
Author and Affiliation Lines
Rose B. Tchuenkam
Physics, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., DC 20007
Speaker / Presenter
Tchuenkam, Rose B.
Keywords
computational methods; gels; selft-assemblies
Text of Abstract
Controlling viscoelasticity, ductility and viscous dissipation is important to promote adhesive contact and prevent cohesive failure in soft gels. Generally these properties have been controlled by altering the gels chemically. However, our work takes a different approach by modifying the architecture through the incorporation of multiple components, inspired by multi-component protein gels in the biological context. For us, this warrants investigation on the role played by inter-species interactions in shaping gel architecture and rheology. We use a computational model to study the effect of changing the interaction strength of the interaction between two species forming a fibrous double network [1]. We explore two classes of double network architectures: one where the two species demix and another one where the species are intertwined with each other. We study yielding and hysteresis in single and double network gel models. To this end, we perform mechanical tests and analyze the hysteresis in these gels under large shear deformation, strain localization, and subsequent failure or yielding. In our simulations, the microscopic underpinnings can be identified in the different degrees of non-affine motion and local stresses, which can have significant implications for the formation of adhesive contacts, ductility and brittleness of the gels. We find that the hysteretic behavior qualitatively changes from a single network gel to a double network one, even when all is kept the same and only interspecies interactions are changed. We also find that the specific double network architecture also dramatically affects the ductility and brittleness. We discuss the possible implications for constitutive models and in the light of recent experiments.