The elastic properties of Tetra-polyethylene glycol (PEG) gel, four-armed PEG network gel, are studied by simulation for deformation of elastic networks containing defects randomly introduced to the network. This network model well reproduces the experimental results of Tetra-PEG gel. In particular, the stress-strain curve of the gel prepared at chain overlap concentration agrees with that of a regular network without defects. As the defect density increases, the Young’s modulus linearly decreases. The fracture and spatial inhomogeneity of the networks are also investigated by the simulation.
- Asumi Sugimura
- Makoto Asai
- Mitsuhiro Shibayama
