Mechanical behavior of composite gel periodic structures with the pattern transformation

When the periodic cellular structure is loaded or swelling beyond the critical value, the structure may undergo a pattern transformation owing to the local elastic instabilities, thus leading to structural collapse and the structure changing to a new configuration. Based on this deformation-triggered pattern, we have proposed the novel composite gel materials. This designed material is a type of architectural material possessing special mechanical properties. In this study, the mechanical behavior of the composite gel periodic structure with various gel inclusions is studied further through numerical simulations. When pattern transformation occurs, it results in a different elastic relationship compared with the material at untransformed state. Based on the obtained nominal stress versus nominal strain behavior, the Poisson's ratio and corresponding deformed structure patterns, we investigate the performance of designed composite materials and the effects of the uniformly distributed gel inclusions on composite materials. A better understanding of the characteristics of these composite gel materials is a key to develop its potential applications on new soft machines.