Creep characterization of gels and nonlinear viscoelastic material model

In this paper, we examine gel creep behavior and develop a material model for useful and simple numerical simulation of this behavior. This study has three stages and aims: (1) gel creep behavior is examined; (2) the material model is determined and the material constants are identified; and (3) the versatility of the material model and the constants are evaluated. The creep behavior is found to be independent of the initial stress level in the present experiment. Thus, the viscoelastic model proposed by Simo is selected, and its material constants are identified using the results of creep tests. Moreover, from the results of numerical calculations and experiments, it is found that the chosen material model has good reproducibility, predictive performance and high versatility.