PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv
Hydrogel mechanics below swelling equilibrium
Abstract
Hydrogels are versatile soft materials whose behavior arises from complex polymer-network-fluid interactions. Combining theory and experiments, we show that their mechanics simplify greatly below swelling equilibrium. In this regime, mixing and pore pressures effectively control local hydration, relegating polymer-network elasticity to accommodate the deformed shape. This mechanical hierarchy renders partially-dried hydrogels analogous to incompressible solids with environment-driven target volumes, enabling a staggered mechanical description that accurately captures their state and behavior.
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BibTeX
@misc{correas2026hydrogel,
title = {{Hydrogel mechanics below swelling equilibrium}},
author = {A. Chao Correas and Y. Feng and R. W. Style and D. S. Kammer},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.07384},
eprint = {2606.07384},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.07384},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hydrogel mechanics below swelling equilibrium
AU - A. Chao Correas
AU - Y. Feng
AU - R. W. Style
AU - D. S. Kammer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.07384
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.07384
AB - Hydrogels are versatile soft materials whose behavior arises from complex polymer-network-fluid interactions. Combining theory and experiments, we show that their mechanics simplify greatly below swelling equilibrium. In this regime, mixing and pore pressures effectively control local hydration, relegating polymer-network elasticity to accommodate the deformed shape. This mechanical hierarchy renders partially-dried hydrogels analogous to incompressible solids with environment-driven target volumes, enabling a staggered mechanical description that accurately captures their state and behavior.
ER -