During one’s lifetime, any human being meets examples of offshore deformations. Film coatings in the packaging industry can double or triple their length. Seismic isolators absorb and dissipate part of the earthquake reaching surprising displacement close to 50 cm. Human tissues inflate and lengthen to offshore deformation levels. Large deformations unite the working principle of all these elements.
The study of large deformations requires a wide experimental campaign, involving sophisticated and complex phenomena belonging to an extremely complicated analytical formulation. The exhaustive knowledge of large deformation can improve the quality of everyday life.
The theoretical background of large deformations is based on the characterization of the (hyperelastic) materials which are identified by a stored energy function. The energy form provides the first crucial step for investigating large deformation. A deeper knowledge of the energy forms of soft materials would allow for the optimization of their shape, reducing the associated quantities, and a better understanding of their behaviour. In this project, we will focus on polymer material and soft tissues. Figure 1 reports the graphical abstract of the project.
The project acronym is LODLSIPH, Large and Offshore Deformations of Everyday Life: from Seismic Isolators to Person’s Health. Through experimental campaigns intersecting interdisciplinary fields of science, engineering, physics, and medicine, we carry out experiments supported by an interdisciplinary panel of experts, able to provide to society free of charge results relating to complex tests on soft material and theoretical insight on energy of hyperelastic materials.
The project has three goals:
- Goal 1: A new test on large deformations which will bring to light new information on the energy form of hyperelastic soft
materials, made possible by the creation of the cutting-edge Laboratory Of Large Deformations (LOLD).
- Goal 2: A new seismic isolator, based on the international patent of the PI, able to reduce the use of Neoprene and increase the capability response of the isolators will be created and tested on a new specifically designed shaking table.
- Goal 3: New polymeric organs used in surgery training will be designed and provided to the medical clinics substituting the animal organs.