Mechanical identification of hyperelastic anisotropic properties of mouse carotid arteries

Pierre Badel (1) , Stéphane Avril (1) , Susan Lessner (2) , Michael A. Sutton (3)

1 CIS-ENSMSE - Centre Ingénierie et Santé
2 DCBA - Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
3 DME-USC - Department of Mechanical Engineering [Columbia]

The role of mechanics is known to be of primary order in many arterial diseases; however determining mechanical properties of arteries remains a challenge. This paper discusses the identifiability of a Holzapfel-type material model for a mouse carotid artery, using an inverse method based on a finite element model and 3D digital image correlation measurements of the surface strain during an inflation/extension test. Layer-specific mean fiber angles are successfully determined using a five parameter constitutive model, demonstrating good robustness of the identification procedure. Importantly, we show that a model based on a single thick layer is unable to render the biaxial mechanical response of the artery tested here. On the contrary, difficulties related to the identification of a seven parameter constitutive model are evidenced; such a model leads to multiple solutions. Nevertheless, it is shown that an additional mechanical test, different in nature with the previous one, solves this problem

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Pierre Badel, Stéphane Avril, Susan Lessner, Michael A. Sutton. Mechanical identification of hyperelastic anisotropic properties of mouse carotid arteries. 11th International Congress & Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, 2011, Uncasville, United States. pp.7. ⟨hal-01063755⟩