The Apparent Viscoelastic Behavior of Articular Cartilage—The Contributions From the Intrinsic Matrix Viscoelasticity and Interstitial Fluid Flows

1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. F. Mak

Articular cartilage was modeled rheologically as a biphasic poroviscoelastic material. A specific integral-type linear viscoelastic model was used to describe the constitutive relation of the collagen-proteoglycan matrix in shear. For bulk deformation, the matrix was assumed either to be linearly elastic, or viscoelastic with an identical reduced relaxation spectrum as in shear. The interstitial fluid was considered to be incompressible and inviscid. The creep and the rate-controlled stressrelaxation experiments on articular cartilage under confined compression were analyzed using this model. Using the material data available in the literature, it was concluded that both the interstitial fluid flow and the intrinsic matrix viscoelasticity contribute significantly to the apparent viscoelastic behavior of this tissue under confined compression.

Author(s):  
Yajun Yin ◽  
Hongyi Li ◽  
Gang Peng ◽  
Xiaobin Yu ◽  
Yiya Kong

Author(s):  
Pouria Khanbolouki ◽  
Mehran Tehrani

Coiled structures made from polymer and Carbon Nanotube (CNT) yarns are used as artificial muscles, stretchable conductors, and energy harvesters. The purpose of this work is to present our latest understanding of the mechanical behavior of these CNT-based structures. CNT yarns are fabricated by inserting twists in sheets spun from CNT forests. Over twisting the CNT yarns results in coiled CNT yarns, similar to a spring where the spring radius is comparable to the diameter of the CNT yarn. In this study, we explain the development and validation of a viscoelastic model, to capture damping and hysteresis in CNT yarns under quasi-static and dynamic loads. Confirmation of linear viscoelastic behavior of CNT yarns can lead us to the development of a model for coiled CNT yarns. Coiled CNT yarns, on the other hand, show a complex non-linear viscoelastic behavior. Possible mechanisms responsible for this non-linear behavior are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia D. Łagan ◽  
Aneta Liber-Kneć

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the viscoelastic response in the low and high physiological strain with the use of experimental and modeling approach. Methods: Viscoelastic response in the low, transition and high physiologic strain (3, 6 and 9%) with consideration of simulated biological environment (0.9% saline solution, 37 °C) was measured in relaxation tests. Preconditioning of tendons was considered in the testing protocol and the applied range of load was obtained from tensile testing. The quasi-linear viscoelasticity theory was used to fit experimental data to obtain constants (moduli and times of relaxation), which can be used for description of the viscoelastic behavior of tendons. The exponential non-linear elastic representation of the stress response in ramp strain was also estimated. Results: Differences between stress relaxation process can be seen between tendons stretched to the physiological strain range (3%) and exceeding this range (6 and 9%). The strains of 6% and 9% showed a similar stress relaxation trend displaying relatively rapid relaxation for the first 70 seconds, whereas the lowest strain of 3% displayed relatively slow relaxation. Conclusions: Results of the model fitting showed that the quasi-linear viscoelastic model gives the best fit in the range of low physiological strain level.


Author(s):  
Heath B. Henninger ◽  
Clayton J. Underwood ◽  
Gerard A. Ateshian ◽  
Jeffrey A. Weiss

Permeability is defined as the ability of a fluid to pass through a porous medium. The ease of water movement is a determinant of the interstitial fluid flow-dependent viscoelastic properties of hydrated soft tissues and also modulates transport of solutes. For articular cartilage, permeability has been quantified directly via permeation experiments and indirectly by analyzing the data from stress relaxation testing under confined compression. It is unclear whether these different methods result in consistent measurements. This further complicates quantification of the effect of an experimental treatment on permeability such as the removal of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) [1, 2]. The objective of this study was to elucidate the impact of sulfated GAGs on the permeability of articular cartilage using direct permeation versus stress relaxation testing, and to assess any differences in permeability calculated from the two test methods.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Soltz ◽  
Anna Stankiewicz ◽  
Gerard Ateshian ◽  
Robert L. Mauck ◽  
Clark T. Hung

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the intrinsic hydraulic permeability of 2% agarose hydrogels. Two-percent agarose was chosen because it is a concentration typically used for encapsulation of chondrocytes in suspension cultures [3–5], Hydraulic permeability is a measure of the relative ease by which fluid can pass through a material. Importantly, it governs the level of interstitial fluid flow as well as the interstitial fluid pressurization that is generated in a material during loading. Fluid pressurization is the source of the unique load-bearing and lubrication properties of articular cartilage [1,17] and represents a major component of the in vivo chondrocyte environment. We have previously reported that 2% agarose hydrogels can support fluid pressurization, albeit to a significantly lesser degree than articular cartilage [18]. Interstitial fluid flow gives rise to convective transport of nutrients and ions [6,7] and matrix compaction [9] which may serve as important stimuli to chondrocytes. We report for the first time the strain-dependent hydraulic permeability of 2% agarose hydrogels.


Author(s):  
G A Ateshian ◽  
H Wang

A mechanism which may contribute to the frictional coefficient of diarthrodial joints is the rolling resistance due to hysteretic energy loss of viscoelastic cartilage resulting from interstitial fluid flow. The hypothesis of this study is that rolling resistance contributes significantly to the measured friction coefficient of articular cartilage. Due to the difficulty of testing this hypothesis experimentally, theoretical predictions of the rolling resistance are obtained using the solution for rolling contact of biphasic cylindrical cartilage layers [Ateshian and Wang (1)]. Over a range of rolling velocities, tissue properties and dimensions, it is found that the coefficient of rolling resistance μR varies in magnitude from 10−6 to 10−2; thus, it is generally negligible in comparison with experimental measurements of the cartilage friction coefficient (10−3-10−1) except, possibly, when the tissue is arthritic. Hence, the hypothesis of this study is rejected on the basis of these results.


Author(s):  
Frances M. Davis ◽  
Raffaella De Vita

Tendons are viscoelastic materials which undergo stress relaxation when held at a constant strain. The most successful model used to describe the viscoelastic behavior of tendons is the quasi-linear viscoelastic (QLV) model [1]. In the QLV model, the relaxation function is assumed to be a separable function of time and strain. Recently, this assumption has been shown to be invalid for tendons [2] thus suggesting the need for new nonlinear viscoelastic models.


2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Michael Lai ◽  
Van C. Mow ◽  
Daniel D. Sun ◽  
Gerard A. Ateshian

The main objective of this study is to determine the nature of electric fields inside articular cartilage while accounting for the effects of both streaming potential and diffusion potential. Specifically, we solve two tissue mechano-electrochemical problems using the triphasic theories developed by Lai et al. (1991, ASME J. Biomech Eng., 113, pp. 245–258) and Gu et al. (1998, ASME J. Biomech. Eng., 120, pp. 169–180) (1) the steady one-dimensional permeation problem; and (2) the transient one-dimensional ramped-displacement, confined-compression, stress-relaxation problem (both in an open circuit condition) so as to be able to calculate the compressive strain, the electric potential, and the fixed charged density (FCD) inside cartilage. Our calculations show that in these two technically important problems, the diffusion potential effects compete against the flow-induced kinetic effects (streaming potential) for dominance of the electric potential inside the tissue. For softer tissues of similar FCD (i.e., lower aggregate modulus), the diffusion potential effects are enhanced when the tissue is being compressed (i.e., increasing its FCD in a nonuniform manner) either by direct compression or by drag-induced compaction; indeed, the diffusion potential effect may dominate over the streaming potential effect. The polarity of the electric potential field is in the same direction of interstitial fluid flow when streaming potential dominates, and in the opposite direction of fluid flow when diffusion potential dominates. For physiologically realistic articular cartilage material parameters, the polarity of electric potential across the tissue on the outside (surface to surface) may be opposite to the polarity across the tissue on the inside (surface to surface). Since the electromechanical signals that chodrocytes perceive in situ are the stresses, strains, pressures and the electric field generated inside the extracellular matrix when the tissue is deformed, the results from this study offer new challenges for the understanding of possible mechanisms that control chondrocyte biosyntheses. [S0148-0731(00)00604-X]


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