Stimulus-Induced Shrinkage in Electrospun Polymeric Fibres: An Investigation on Thickness of Prestretched Shell and Prestrain via Finite Element Analysis

In this paper, finite element simulation (via ANSYS) is applied to systematically reveal the influence of the shell thickness and prestrain in the shell on stimulus-induced shrinkage in electrospun polymeric fibres. The stimulus-induced shrinkage is simulated as cooling-induced shrinkage in the prestrained shell in the prestrained direction, while in the transverse direction, the shell expands accordingly to ensure there is no volume change in the shell, except elastic deformation. The maximum shrinkage corresponds to the prestrain in the shell. The inner core is without prestrain, and thus, there is no shrinkage/expansion in any direction. An initial small curvature is introduced into the simply supported fibres to avoid the problem of buckling conditions/mode, et al. Within the range of this study, it is found that Young's modulus, length of the fibre and boundary conditions have little effect on the final relative axial shrinkage. The prestrain in the shell is always more than the final relative axial shrinkage. The final relative axial shrinkage strongly depends on the diameter of the electrospun fibres, and hence, we may base on this feature to experimentally determine the shell thickness and prestrain in the shell.

Automated summary

In this paper, finite element simulation (via ANSYS) is used to investigate the effect of shell thickness and prestrain on stimulus-induced shrinkage in electrospun polymeric fibres. The results show that the maximum shrinkage is determined by the prestrain in the shell. Young's modulus, fibre length, and boundary conditions have little influence on the final relative axial shrinkage. The diameter of the electrospun fibres strongly affects the final relative axial shrinkage, suggesting its potential for determining shell thickness and prestrain experimentally.