This paper presents a constitutive model for predicting the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of soft biological tissues and in particular of ligaments. The constitutive law is a generalization of the well-known quasi-linear viscoelastic theory (QLV) in which the elastic response of the tissue and the time-dependent properties are independently modeled and combined into a convolution time integral. The elastic behavior, based on the definition of anisotropic strain energy function, is extended to the time-dependent regime by means of a suitably developed time discretization scheme. The time-dependent constitutive law is based on the postulate that a constituent-based relaxation behavior may be defined through two different stress relaxation functions: one for the isotropic matrix and one for the reinforcing (collagen) fibers. The constitutive parameters of the viscoelastic model have been estimated by curve fitting the stress relaxation experiments conducted on medial collateral ligaments (MCLs) taken from the literature, whereas the predictive capability of the model was assessed by simulating experimental tests different from those used for the parameter estimation. In particular, creep tests at different maximum stresses have been successfully simulated. The proposed nonlinear viscoelastic model is able to predict the time-dependent response of ligaments described in experimental works (Bonifasi-Lista et al., 2005, J. Orthopaed. Res., 23, pp. 67-76; Hingorani et al., 2004, Ann. Biomed. Eng., 32, pp. 306-312; Provenzano et al., 2001, Ann. Biomed. Eng., 29, pp. 908-214; Weiss et al., 2002, J. Biomech., 35, pp. 943-950). In particular, the nonlinear viscoelastic response which implies different relaxation rates for different applied strains, as well as different creep rates for different applied stresses and direction-dependent relaxation behavior, can be described.
A finite element model was developed for numerical simulations of nanoindentation tests on cortical bone. The model allows for anisotropic elastic and post-yield behavior of the tissue. The material model for the post-yield behavior was obtained through a suitable linear transformation of the stress tensor components to define the properties of the real anisotropic material in terms of a fictitious isotropic solid. A tension-compression yield stress mismatch and a direction-dependent yield stress are allowed for. The constitutive parameters are determined on the basis of literature experimental data. Indentation experiments along the axial (the longitudinal direction of long bones) and transverse directions have been simulated with the purpose to calculate the indentation moduli and the tissue hardness in both the indentation directions. The results have shown that the transverse to axial mismatch of indentation moduli was correctly simulated regardless of the constitutive parameters used to describe the post-yield behavior. The axial to transverse hardness mismatch observed in experimental studies (see, for example, Rho et al. [1999, "Elastic Properties of Microstructural Components of Human Bone Tissue as Measured by Nanoindentation," J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 45, pp. 48-54] for results on human tibial cortical bone) can be correctly simulated through an anisotropic yield constitutive model. Furthermore, previous experimental results have shown that cortical bone tissue subject to nanoindentation does not exhibit piling-up. The numerical model presented in this paper shows that the probe tip-tissue friction and the post-yield deformation modes play a relevant role in this respect; in particular, a small dilatation angle, ruling the volumetric inelastic strain, is required to approach the experimental findings.
Anisotropy is one of the most peculiar aspects of cortical bone mechanics; however, its anisotropic mechanical behaviour should be treated only with strict relationship to the length scale of investigation. In this study, we focus on quantifying the orientation and size dependence of the spatial mechanical modulation in individual secondary osteons of bovine cortical bone using nanoindentation. Tests were performed on the same osteonal structure in the axial (along the long bone axis) and transverse (normal to the long bone axis) directions along arrays going radially out from the Haversian canal at four different maximum depths on three secondary osteons. Results clearly show a periodic pattern of stiffness with spatial distance across the osteon. The effect of length scale on lamellar bone anisotropy and the critical length at which homogenization of the mechanical properties occurs were determined. Further, a laminatecomposite-based analytical model was applied to the stiffness trends obtained at the highest spatial resolution to evaluate the elastic constants for a sub-layer of mineralized collagen fibrils within an osteonal lamella on the basis of the spatial arrangement of the fibrils. The hierarchical arrangement of lamellar bone is found to be a major determinant for modulation of mechanical properties and anisotropic mechanical behaviour of the tissue.
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