Compressive strain rate sensitivity of ballistic gelatin.

Gelatin is a popular tissue simulant used in biomedical applications. The uniaxial compressive stress-strain response of gelatin was determined at a range of strain rates. In the quasistatic regime, gelatin strength remained relatively constant. With increase in loading rate, the compressive strength increased from 3kPa at a strain rate of around 0.0013/s to 6MPa at a strain rate of around 3200/s. This dramatic increase in strength of gelatin at high rates is attributed to its shear-thickening behavior and is argued on the basis of hydrocluster formation mechanism and differences in internal energy dissipation mechanism under static and dynamic loading. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.