Mechanical behaviour of silicone membranes saturated with short strand, loose polyester fibres for prosthetic and rehabilitative surrogate skin applications

Arm, R. ORCID: 0000-0001-8762-6003, Shahidi, A.M. ORCID: 0000-0002-7780-3122 and Dias, T. ORCID: 0000-0002-3533-0398, 2019. Mechanical behaviour of silicone membranes saturated with short strand, loose polyester fibres for prosthetic and rehabilitative surrogate skin applications. Materials, 12 (22): 3647. ISSN 1996-1944

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Abstract

Silicone-based elastomers saturated with embedded, short-strand fibres are used for their ability to mimic the aesthetic qualities of skin in clinical and theatrical maxillofacial appliance design. Well-known to prostheses fabricators and technicians, the mechanical impact of fibre addition on elastomeric behaviour endures as tacit, embodied knowledge of the craft, almost unknown in the literature. To examine mechanical changes caused by fibre addition, 100 modified polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomeric compounds containing incremental amounts of loose polyester fibres were prepared and examined in a variety of mechanical tests. It was found that elasticity and strain percentage at breaking point was reduced by increasing fibre content, but Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased. As fibre content was increased, strain hardening was seen at low strain rates, but exaggerated plastic deformation at high strain rates. PDMS hardness increased by 5 degrees of hardness (Shore-00 scale) for every additional percentage of fibres added and a strong positive linear coefficient (0.993 and 0.995) was identified to reach the hardness values given in the literature for living human skin. The apparent reorienting of loose fibres in the PDMS interrupts and absorbs stress during the loading process similar to the organic response to soft tissue loading, except in extension.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Materials
Creators: Arm, R., Shahidi, A.M. and Dias, T.
Publisher: MDPI
Date: 6 November 2019
Volume: 12
Number: 22
ISSN: 1996-1944
Identifiers:
NumberType
10.3390/ma12223647DOI
1213214Other
Divisions: Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by: Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added: 19 Mar 2020 13:39
Last Modified: 31 Aug 2021 13:21
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39412

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