Large Deformations of a Soft Porous Material

Deforming a porous material can squeeze out interstitial fluid, as we know from washing with a kitchen sponge. Many of these materials, including soils, gels, and biological tissues, are soft and can experience very large deformations, which require complex, highly nonlinear mathematical models. The authors discuss an exact kinematic model for large deformations, and show when and how these large deformations change the mechanics of two example problems. Their findings lend a deep physical perspective to applications ranging from biomedical engineering to hydrogeology.