ABSTRACT
Mixtures of silicone elastomer and silicone oil were prepared and the values of their Young's moduli, E, determined in compression. The mixtures had volume fractions, [Formula: see text], of silicone oil in the range of 0-0.73. Measurements were made, under displacement control, for strain rates, [Formula: see text], in the range of 0.04-3.85 s(-1). The behaviour of [Formula: see text] as a function of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] was investigated using a response surface model. The effects of the two variables were independent for the silicones used in this investigation. As a result, the dependence of E values (measured in MPa) on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (s(-1)) could be represented by [Formula: see text]. This means that these silicones can be mixed to give materials with E values in the range of about 0.02-0.57 MPa, which includes E values for many biological tissues. Thus, the mixtures can be used for making models for training health-care professionals and may be useful in some research applications as model tissues that do not exhibit biological variability.
