Force Prediction in the Compression Sealing of an Ultra-thin Elastoviscoplastic Membrane

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a method for mechanically characterizing a 25 μm thick elastoviscoplastic hemodialysis membrane and for quantifying the force required to use that membrane in compression sealing. First, methods are developed for mechanically characterizing the thin elastoviscoplastic membrane. Then, a finite element model is developed, and experimentally verified, for predicting the force required to produce a compression seal in the elastoviscoplastic membrane compressed between hot-embossed polycarbonate laminae containing sealing boss features. Experimental data for assessing the depth of penetration into the membrane as a function of force show an R² value of 0.85 showing good repeatability. The model was found to underpredict the force on average by 8.0% with a range between -21.9% and 4.4% error in the strain region of interest.