The authors acknowledge the projects EXPL/EME-EME/0732/2021
and 2022.06207.PTDC for the financial support, through national funds
(OE), within the scope of the Scientific Research and Technological
Development Projects (IC&DT) program in all scientific domains
(PTDC), PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, European Regional
Development Fund (FEDER), via the Foundation for Science and Technology,
I.P. (FCT, I.P) and the R&D Units projects (UIDB/00690/2020
and UIDP/00690/2020) (CIMO), SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020), UIDB/
04077/2020, UIDP/04077/2020, UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDB/00532/
2020. Andrews Souza acknowledges FCT for the Ph.D. scholarship
2021.07961.BD.
The examination of hyperelastic materials’ behavior, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), is crucial for applications
in areas as biomedicine and electronics. However, the limitations of hyperelastic models for specific
stress scenarios, with stress concentration, are not well explored on the literature. To address this, firstly, three
constitutive models were evaluated (Neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, and Ogden) using numerical simulations and
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) analysis during a uniaxial tensile test. The samples were made of PDMS with
stress concentration geometries (center holes, shoulder fillets, and edge notches). Results of ANOVA analysis
showed that any of the three models can be chosen for numerical analysis of PDMS since no significant differences
in suitability were found. Finally, the Ogen model was chosen to obtain the stress concentration factors for
these geometries, a property which characterize how discontinuities change the maximum stress supported by an
element. Our study provides new values for variables needed to analyze and design hyperelastic elements and
produce a foundation for understanding PDMS stress-strain behavior.
