Abstract
The influence of polymer volume fraction, ϕv on fracture initiation via puncture is studied in self-assembled triblock copolymer gels. Spherically tipped indenters of radii varying over a wide range were used to characterize puncture at length scales on the same order of magnitude as the elasto-capillary length (∼μm) and significantly below the elasto-fracture length (∼mm) for ϕv = 0.12-0.53. Critical energy release rate, Gc for ϕv = 0.12-0.30 was found to be in agreement with the predicted scaling from the classical Lake-Thomas model modified for gel fracture via the failure mechanism of chain pull-out and plastic yielding of micelles (Gc ∼ ϕv2.2). Interestingly, we demonstrate that fracture initiation energy, o, from puncture scales as o ∼ ϕv, thus, indicating the role played by different fundamental mechanisms governing fracture initiation in soft gels. Additionally, gels with ϕv = 0.53 show deviation from experimental scalings for Gc and o, likely due to a change in micellar morphology leading to anomalous fracture behavior.
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