Degradation and healing in a generalized neo-Hookean solid due to infusion of a fluid

The mechanical response and load bearing capacity of high performance polymer composites changes due to degradation or healing associated with diffusion of a fluid, temperature, oxidation or the extent of the deformation. Hence, there is a need to study the response of bodies under such degradation/healing mechanisms. In this paper, we study the effect of degradation and healing due to the diffusion of a fluid on the response of a solid which prior to the diffusion can be described by the generalized neo-Hookean model. We show that a generalized neo-Hookean solid—which behaves like an elastic body (i.e., it does not produce entropy) within a purely mechanical context—creeps and stress relaxes due to degradation/healing when infused with a fluid and behaves like a body whose material properties are time dependent. We specifically investigate the torsion of a degrading/healing generalized neo-Hookean circular cylindrical annulus infused with a fluid. The equations of equilibrium for a generalized neo-Hookean solid are solved together with the convection–diffusion equation for the fluid concentration. Different boundary conditions for the fluid concentration are also considered. We also solve the problem for the case when the diffusivity of the fluid depends on the deformation of the generalized neo-Hookean solid.