Tendons are the connective tissues that attach muscles to bones. Ligaments have a similar function but connect two bones. They both have complex microstructures consisting of a hierarchical arrangement of collagen fibres embedded in a compliant matrix and can have varied macroscale geometries ranging from cylinders to tapered bands to hourglass shapes. The interplay between their micro- and macro-structure makes it challenging to model their mechanical behaviour. In this seminar, I will present a microscale constitutive model that can be used to predict how the structural arrangement of the collagen fibres impacts tendon and ligament stress-strain behaviour. I will explain how it can be used to infer microscale parameter values from macroscale mechanical data. Then, I will discuss its implementation in a finite element model to investigate the effects of macroscale geometry, highlighting the importance of realistic fibre alignment and how this has been neglected in the literature.
This video was produced by the Isaac Newton Institute, as part of the workshop Mathematical mechanical biology: old school and new school, methods and applications, forming part of the programme Uncertainty quantification and stochastic modelling of materials.
