A study of biphasic models to represent the viscous mechanical behavior of tendons

Abstract

In this work is presented a study ofthecapabilityto represent the viscous mechanical behavior of tendonsusingtwo biphasic models. Poroelastic and poroviscoelastic models were implemented in to a finite element framework, and numerical tests were performed. Also,it is presenteda numerical-experimental characterization of the biphasic models, using transversal isotropy for the solid phase.The results shownthat the PE model is highly dependent on the Poisson’s ratio of the solid matrix, and it is capable of reproducing viscous effects only when high compressibility of the tissue arises. Both models can reproduceexperimental results of a cyclic test using a porcine flexor tendon specimen submerged in water, where the poroviscoelastic model performed better due to the inclusion of the viscosity on the solid phase. However, the poroelastic model was capable of reproducing the experimental observation only when itis assumed Poisson’s ratio close to zero, which could represent a physical violation of the incompressibility assumption commonly used in literature.