Non-affinity and fluid-coupled viscoelastic plateau for immersed fiber networks

Abstract

We employ a matrix-based solver for the linear rheology of fluid-immersed disordered spring networks to reveal four distinct dynamic response regimes. One regime - completely absent in the known vacuum response - exhibits coupled fluid flow and network deformation, with both components responding non-affinely. This regime contains an additional plateau (peak) in the frequency-dependent storage (loss) modulus - features which vanish without full hydrodynamic interactions. The mechanical response of immersed networks such as biopolymers and hydrogels is thus richer than previously established, and offers additional modalities for design and control through fluid interactions.

Clarifications. 5 pages, 5 figures. Supplementary information provided in submission. To appear in PRL

References in corpus (5)

• Non-equilibrium mechanics and dynamics of motor activated gels
• A minimal-length approach unifies rigidity in under-constrained materials
• Geometry and the onset of rigidity in a disordered network
• Dynamical behavior of disordered spring networks
• Normal stresses in semiflexible polymer hydrogels

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Strain-controlled critical slowing down in the rheology of disordered networks
• Nonlinear master relation in microscopic mechanical response of semiflexible biopolymer networks
• Viscoelastic scaling regimes for marginally-rigid fractal spring networks