Constitutive modeling of soft tissues

authored by: Michele Marino
Abstract: The mechanical response of soft tissues is characterized by nonlinear stress-strain relationships associated with the peculiar mechanical properties of constituents which are structured in a hierarchical multiscale arrangement. Relevant anisotropic properties are inherited from structural heterogeneities associated with significant differences in the stiffness of constituents. Moreover, the high water content endows soft tissues by incompressible or quasi-incompressible behavior. Finally, tissue mechanics can be also affected by inelastic mechanisms, such as damage and viscous effects, as well as active responses, growth, and remodeling. The effective description of tissue mechanics, i.e. the constitutive model, is instrumental in the development of reliable computational models for biomechanical analyses. Present work addresses the fundamental theoretical aspects for the development of constitutive models of soft tissues. Both elastic and inelastic responses are faced. Modeling strategies are discussed in terms of physical requirements, thermodynamical consistency, and mathematical prescriptions. A snapshot of the state of the art is presented, with a focus on multiscale approaches. The latter allow indeed to gain a special insight on the structure-mechanics relationship that characterizes soft tissue response in pathophysiological conditions.
Organisation(s): Institute of Continuum Mechanics
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Volume: 1-3
Pages: 81-110
No. of pages: 30
Publication date: 2019
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.99926-4 (Access: Closed)
: Details in the research portal "Research@Leibniz University"

BibTeX

@inbook{041989ce8ebc4f2caab1b2cfef057a8c,
title = "Constitutive modeling of soft tissues",
abstract = "The mechanical response of soft tissues is characterized by nonlinear stress-strain relationships associated with the peculiar mechanical properties of constituents which are structured in a hierarchical multiscale arrangement. Relevant anisotropic properties are inherited from structural heterogeneities associated with significant differences in the stiffness of constituents. Moreover, the high water content endows soft tissues by incompressible or quasi-incompressible behavior. Finally, tissue mechanics can be also affected by inelastic mechanisms, such as damage and viscous effects, as well as active responses, growth, and remodeling. The effective description of tissue mechanics, i.e. the constitutive model, is instrumental in the development of reliable computational models for biomechanical analyses. Present work addresses the fundamental theoretical aspects for the development of constitutive models of soft tissues. Both elastic and inelastic responses are faced. Modeling strategies are discussed in terms of physical requirements, thermodynamical consistency, and mathematical prescriptions. A snapshot of the state of the art is presented, with a focus on multiscale approaches. The latter allow indeed to gain a special insight on the structure-mechanics relationship that characterizes soft tissue response in pathophysiological conditions.",
keywords = "Active response, Anisotropic behavior, Constitutive models, Continuum mechanics, Damage, Growth and remodeling, Hyperelasticity, Incompressibility, Invariant-based formulation, Multiscale approaches, Plasticity, Soft tissues, Structure-mechanics relationship, Thermodynamic requirements, Viscoelasticity",
author = "Michele Marino",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.99926-4",
language = "English",
isbn = "9780128048290",
volume = "1-3",
pages = "81--110",
editor = "Roger Narayan",
booktitle = "Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering",
publisher = "Elsevier",
address = "United States",
}