Simulation on mechanical properties of porous nanocrystalline silicon membrane for artificial kidney

A simulation analysis of a porous nanocrystalline silicon membrane (pnc-Si) is conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of the membrane in an assumed environment of an artificial kidney, with an applied pressure ranging from 10–500 mmHg. The simulation was done using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1 under stationary study with the membrane having a variation of surface area. From simulation, the von Mises stress shows a lower value than the yield strength for an applied pressure of 100 mmHg, which shows that the pnc-Si membrane may be able to withstand high pressure.