FSI and non-FSI studies on a functionally graded temperature-responsive hydrogel bilayer in a micro-channel

Taking into account both fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and non-FSI simulations, the deformation of a bilayer is investigated in this paper. The bilayer, which is utilized in a micro-channel, consists of a Functionally-graded (FG) temperature-responsive hydrogel layer and an incompressible elastomeric one. Allocating two different positions to the elastomeric layer, we make two different bilayers where in one of them, the elastomer layer is located on the left (LSE) and on the right (RSE) in another one. Also, to see the effect of grading, two bilayers with homogenous hydrogel layers with different amounts of cross-linking density are considered. For FG cases in which the hydrogel layer’s properties vary through thickness direction, both ascending and descending arrangements are analyzed. Each simulation, whether it is FSI or non-FSI, is conducted utilizing three software. FLUENT for fluid domain examinations, ABAQUS for finite element method analysis, and MpCCI to couple two aforementioned simulation domains. By extracting and comparing both simulations results, it is observed that the influence of the fluid flow is very significant and should not be ignored. Moreover, it is discovered that the fluid flow affects more the RSE configuration and also the bilayers with lower amounts of cross-linking density. Finally, we investigate how some parameters, such as inlet pressure, can affect the behavior of the bilayer.