TY - CHAP

T1 - Constitutive modeling of soft tissues

AU - Marino, Michele

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Active response

KW - Anisotropic behavior

KW - Constitutive models

KW - Continuum mechanics

KW - Damage

KW - Growth and remodeling

KW - Hyperelasticity

KW - Incompressibility

KW - Invariant-based formulation

KW - Multiscale approaches

KW - Plasticity

KW - Soft tissues

KW - Structure-mechanics relationship

KW - Thermodynamic requirements

KW - Viscoelasticity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066016603&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.99926-4

DO - 10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.99926-4

M3 - Contribution to book/anthology

AN - SCOPUS:85066016603

SN - 9780128048290

VL - 1-3

SP - 81

EP - 110

BT - Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering

A2 - Narayan, Roger

PB - Elsevier

ER -