A variational formulation for coupled physicochemical flows during finite deformations of charged porous media

Polymer gels\ hydrated biological tissues and other charged porous media may exhibit macroscopic coupling between solid deformations and internal ~uid\ chemical and electrical ~ows[ In this manuscript\ we develop a variationally motivated _nite deformation theory for describing such coupled phenomena[ The formulation combines mathematical descriptions of the power balance associated with solid deformation and ~uid and solute ~ows for an arbitrary number of solute species\ and includes the macroscopic phenomenological coupling relations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics[ Particular implementations of the theory are discussed for a charged\ porous medium interacting with a binary electrolyte and for the addition of a third\ possibly charged solute species to such a system[ This theoretical framework is suitable for modeling physicochemical interactions in a large class of hydrated porous media[ 0887 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved[