By William Burkey

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew C. Fleenor, PhD

Abstract

Rheology is the study of material deformation when subjugated to external force. Every stage of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) is differentiable by its viscoelasticity or “the ability/reluctance to flow”, and rheology is used to quantify viscoelastic properties. In hopes of potentially using viscoelastic behavior to quantify biocontamination, we explored a variety of stress-strain relationships under shear. We demonstrated that oscillatory tests provide a demarcation between elastic (storage) and viscous (flow) behavior. In addition, we measured the yield point for a silicone-like material that could possibly be used as a biological constitutive. Our future goal is to investigate a mechanical substitute for adipose tissue, including how it responds to various concentrations of additives.