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Constitutive equations for ligament and other soft tissue: evaluation by experiment

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Abstract

Ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues are nonlinearly viscoelastic. To discriminate among various constitutive equations which may be used to describe the tissue, appropriate experimental modalities are requisite. Ideally, testing should span physiologic ranges for load (or strain), load history (recovery and reloading), and load onset and duration, and a robust model will fit all data. Methods to expand the experimental window of time for relaxation and creep are presented and evaluated. The role of ramp, relaxation and recovery protocols is studied in the context of viscoelasticity describable by linear, quasi-linear, nonlinear superposition, Schapery, and multiple integral formulations. The advantages associated with testing protocols that expand the time windows for creep or relaxation are presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706-1687, USA

    Sarah E. Duenwald, Ray Vanderby Jr & Roderic S. Lakes

  2. Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706-1687, USA

    Ray Vanderby Jr

  3. Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin, 541 Engineering Research Building, 1500 Engineering Drive, Wisconsin, WI, 53706-1687, USA

    Roderic S. Lakes

Authors
  1. Sarah E. Duenwald
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  2. Ray Vanderby Jr
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  3. Roderic S. Lakes
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Correspondence to Roderic S. Lakes.

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Duenwald, S.E., Vanderby, R. & Lakes, R.S. Constitutive equations for ligament and other soft tissue: evaluation by experiment. Acta Mech 205, 23–33 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00707-009-0161-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00707-009-0161-8

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