Material characterization and simulation for soft gels subjected to impulsive loading

For impact and blast experiments of traumatic brain injury (TBI), soft gel materials are used as surrogates to imitate the mechanical responses of brain tissue. To properly model a viscoelastic gel brain in a surrogate head using a finite element (FE) model, material parameters such as the shear moduli and relaxation time at high strain rates are required. However, such information is scarce in the literature and its applicability for a range of dynamic conditions is unclear. We used an integrated experiment and simulation approach to efficiently determine mechanical properties of soft gels at finite strains, as well as over a wide range of strain rates. A novel impact experiment using a gel block was developed to capture the high strain rate behavior by maximizing the inherent shear wave motion at different impact conditions. A corresponding computational model was used to simulate the gel dynamics of the impact. Parametric simulations utilizing optimization and correlation analyses were used to calibrate multiple material parameters in the nonlinear viscoelastic model to the experimental data. The optimal parameters for gels, including Sylgards 184, 3–6636, and 527, were found. We ascertained the initial shear stiffening effect in gels at high strain rate loadings experimentally and incorporated this effect in the simulation. We have verified the integrated approach by comparing the material properties of the gels with analytical results based on shear wave propagation. This study provides a new approach to calibrate the material behavior of soft gels under high strain rate loading conditions.