Cartilage is a hydrated soft tissue whose solid matrix consists of negatively charged proteoglycans enmeshed within a fibrillar collagen network. Though many aspects of cartilage mechanics are well understood today, most notably in the context of porous media mechanics, there remain a number of responses observed experimentally whose prediction from theory has been challenging. In this study the solid matrix of cartilage is modeled with a continuous fiber angular distribution, where fibers can only sustain tension, swelled by the osmotic pressure of a proteoglycan ground matrix. It is shown that this representation of cartilage can predict a number of observed phenomena in relation to the tissue’s equilibrium response to mechanical and osmotic loading, when flow-dependent and flow-independent viscoelastic effects have subsided. In particular, this model can predict the transition of Poisson’s ratio from very low values in compression to very high values in tension . Most of these phenomena cannot be explained when using only three orthogonal fiber bundles to describe the tissue matrix, a common modeling assumption used to date. The main picture emerging from this analysis is that the anisotropy of the fibrillar matrix of articular cartilage is intimately dependent on the mechanism of tensed fiber recruitment, in the manner suggested by our recent theoretical study (Ateshian, 2007, ASME J. Biomech. Eng., 129(2), pp. 240–249).
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June 2009
Research Papers
Modeling the Matrix of Articular Cartilage Using a Continuous Fiber Angular Distribution Predicts Many Observed Phenomena
Gerard A. Ateshian,
Gerard A. Ateshian
Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering,
e-mail: ateshian@columbia.edu
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
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Vikram Rajan,
Vikram Rajan
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
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Nadeen O. Chahine,
Nadeen O. Chahine
Center for Micro and Nano Technology,
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
, Livermore, CA 94550
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Clare E. Canal,
Clare E. Canal
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
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Clark T. Hung
Clark T. Hung
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
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Gerard A. Ateshian
Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027e-mail: ateshian@columbia.edu
Vikram Rajan
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
Nadeen O. Chahine
Center for Micro and Nano Technology,
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
, Livermore, CA 94550
Clare E. Canal
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027
Clark T. Hung
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Columbia University
, New York, NY 10027J Biomech Eng. Jun 2009, 131(6): 061003 (10 pages)
Published Online: April 21, 2009
Article history
Received:
May 13, 2008
Revised:
January 9, 2009
Published:
April 21, 2009
Citation
Ateshian, G. A., Rajan, V., Chahine, N. O., Canal, C. E., and Hung, C. T. (April 21, 2009). "Modeling the Matrix of Articular Cartilage Using a Continuous Fiber Angular Distribution Predicts Many Observed Phenomena." ASME. J Biomech Eng. June 2009; 131(6): 061003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3118773
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