Fig. 4: Vibration transmissibility properties of Α5 hydrogels.
From: Tunable network architecture in a hydrogel with extreme vibration damping properties
a i: Hydrogel block for vibration transmissibility experiments were prepared via dialysis [see Fig. 1a–d]. ii: Optical image of a hydrogel block of dimensions 30 × 30 × 15 mm. Yellow grid demarcates 1 cm. iii: Schematic of the experimental set-up on an electrodynamic shaker. The hydrogel block was affixed between the base plate and connecting plate with alginate tray adhesive (magenta). A top mass could be attached to the connecting plate via screws, and increasingly heavy top masses could be interchanged to apply increasing pre-compressive strain to the sample prior to vibration. Accelerometers (green) were connected to the base plate and top mass to measure the amplitude of mechanical waves before and after transmission through the hydrogel. b Vibration transmissibility data. Representative transmissibility factor (TF) amplitude curves of A5–P0 (black), A5–P2.5 (blue), A5–P5 (green), and A5–P10 (red) hydrogels with the corresponding TF phase curves (bottom row). Asterisks indicate resonant frequency. Measurements were taken under five levels of pre-compression due to increasing load with the top mass: i) 32.44 g; ii) 64.25 g; iii) 111.10 g; iv) 160.43 g; and v) 209.13 g.
