Vlassak, JoostHu, YuhangChan, Edwin P.Suo, Zhigang2022-10-312011-10-15Vlassak, Joost, Yuhang Hu, Edwin P. Chan, Zhigang Suo. "Poroelastic relaxation indentation of thin layers of gels." Journal of Applied Physics 110, no. 8 (2011): 086103. DOI: 10.1063/1.36477580021-89791089-7550https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37373452We develop a method of poroelastic relaxation indentation (PRI) to characterize thin layers of gels. The solution to the time-dependent boundary-value problem is obtained in a remarkably simple form, so that the force-relaxation curve obtained by indenting a gel readily determines all the poroelastic constants of the gel—the shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and the effective diffusivity. The method is demonstrated with a layer of polydimethylsiloxane immersed in heptane.en-USGeneral Physics and AstronomyJournal Article2022-10-3110.1063/1.3647758