@Article{icces.2023.010142,
AUTHOR = {Xuelian Zhang, Junjie Liu, Jian Li, Zhihong Liang, Han Jiang, Guozheng Kang, Qianhua Kan},
TITLE = {Experimental	Investigation	on	Pure-Shear	Ratcheting	Behavior	of	 Double-Network	Tough	Hydrogels},
JOURNAL = {The International Conference on Computational \& Experimental Engineering and Sciences},
VOLUME = {25},
YEAR = {2023},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {1--1},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/icces/v25n3/53850},
ISSN = {1933-2815},
ABSTRACT = {The	last	 decades	 have	witnessed	 the	 real	 and	 huge	 potential	 applications	 of	 hydrogels	in	 various	 areas,	
including	 biomedicine,	 soft	 robotics,	 and	 flexible	 electronics.	 The	 fatigue	 of	 hydrogels	 challenges	 their	
reliability	and	longevity	in	service,	but	the	related	works	are	not	sufficient.	In	this	work,	stress-controlled	
cyclic	fatigue	tests	of	a	double-network	tough	hydrogel,	consisting	of	polyacrylamide	and	alginate	polymer	
networks,	 under	 pure	 shear	 deformation	 are	investigated.	 The	 effects	 of	 peak	 stress,	loading	 rate,	 peak	
stress	 holding	 time,	 and	 environmental	 relative	 humidity	 on	 the	 fatigue	 of	 the	 double-network	 tough	
hydrogel	are	considered.	The	results	show	that	with	the	increase	in	peak	stress,	relative humidity,	and	peak	
stress	holding	time,	the	peak,	valley	and	ratcheting	stretch	increase	and	the	apparent	modulus	decreases.	
However,	with	the	increase	in	stress	rate,	the	peak,	valley	and	ratcheting	stretch	decrease	and	the	apparent	
modulus	increases.	The	ratcheting	stretch	increases	and	then	decreases	with	the	increasing	loading	cycles,	
while	 the	apparent	modulus	 first	decreases	and	 then	increases	with	 the	increasing	loading	cycles.	These	
experimental	 results	 were	 interpreted	 qualitatively	 by	 the	 competition	 between	 the	 unzipping	 of	 ionic	
bonds	and	water	loss	of	the	hydrogels	during	the	fatigue	test.	This	work	reveals	the	ratcheting	behavior	of	
double-network	tough	hydrogels	and	might	inspire	studies	on	the	fatigue	of	other	tough	hydrogels.},
DOI = {10.32604/icces.2023.010142}
}