Paper number 825

COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF SOFT COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR ARTIFICIAL LIGAMENT ANALYSIS

Pasquale Vena and Roberto Contro

Department of Structural Engineering, Politechnico of Milano
Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32
20133, Milan, Italy
E-mail: vena@stru.polimi.it
E-mail: contro@stru.polimi.it

Summary

A constitutive law suited for an elastic composite material subject to finite strains and its finite element implementtion for computational applications will be briefly expounded. Mechanical behaviour of artificial tendons or ligaments made of soft composite materials will be simulated. The composite, obtained by reinforcing a compliant matrix with stiff fibers, is conceived such that its mechanical behaviour is quite similar to the reponse displayed by the microstructural arangements of collagene fibers embedded in natural ligaments or tendrons. This paper is part of a research whose final goal is the creation of a computational tool for design of articial devices for human joint reconstruction. This tool should allow for a correct prediction of the mechanical behaviour of the prosthetic devices able to fulfill the biomechanical constraints needed for a successful tissue replacement.

Keywords

anisotropy, biomechanics, composite materials, constitutive models, large deformation, non linear analysis.