The swelling–induced mechanical response of homogeneous anisotropic gels under free conditions and uniaxial loading is investigated. Semi–analytical and numerical analyses show that fibers hamper solvent uptake regardless of their orientation, causing the several changes in shape that occur. Finally, we verified that fibers do not significantly alter relaxation time, which determines the steady state under free–swelling conditions.
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See Ref. 14 for a full discussion on the possible anisotropic structure of M.
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