Static and Dynamic Mechanical Characterization of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) under Uniaxial Tensile Loading

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The present study is based on performing mechanical characterization of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) under tensile loading. PDMS samples are developed by mixing prepolymer and curing agent with 10:1 ratio. Mechanical characterization of the PDMS samples is carried out using static and dynamic mechanical testing methods. In particular, the material is characterized under monotonic loading, different strain rates, and force-controlled cyclic loading. The monotonic loading tests are performed at different grip tightening levels to optimize gripping that avoids slipping and reaches failure point. The strain rate dependency and cyclic loading tests are performed to study the viscoelastic behaviour of the material. Strain rate dependency tests are carried out at the strain rates of 6.7×10-3 s-1, 3.2×10-2 s-1, and 6.2×10-2 s-1. The hysteresis tests are performed at the force rates of 0.1 – 2 N/s. The obtained results show that fixing the testing specimen made of soft hyperviscoelastic material such as PDMS is challenging and can significantly affect its stress-strain behaviour and mechanical properties. A higher strain rate increases the stiffness of the material due to the viscoelastic nature of the material. Observing the stress-strain curves, with respect to the lowest strain rate case, the curve for 6.2×10-2 s-1 strain rate diverges at 40% strain compared to 3.2×10-2 s-1 strain rate curve that diverges at 80% strain. The material shows a nonlinear hysteresis behaviour and similar energy dissipation for the considered force-controlled cyclic loading cases.