Modeling of hyperelastic polymer gels under blunt ballistic impact with three-dimensional flexibilities

Polymer gels are promising surrogates for human tissues, whereas simulating the behavior of these materials in 3D scenarios, particularly when they are subjected to dynamic loads, can be a complex and computationally demanding task. This work presents a solution to this challenge through developing a three-dimensional meshfree framework based on bond-based peridynamics. The novelties of this method are threefold: (1) The peridynamic bond force-stretch relationship of the Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic model is original formulated and implemented based on thermomechanical theories and energy equivalence principles; (2) A novel contact algorithm is proposed to reduce the complexity of realistic loading and boundary conditions in blunt ballistic impact simulations; (3) This computational framework enables 3D dynamic simulations of hyperelastic polymer gels with complex geometric configurations. Tensile and compressive tests with varying loading rates are studied to validate the capability and accuracy of the proposed method. The proposed computational framework outperforms its finite element counterparts in modeling blunt impacts on polymer gels. It can be readily extended to penetration impact problems since accounting for failures is straightforward in this peridynamics framework. © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.