The negative charges on proteoglycans significantly affect the mechanical behaviors of articular cartilage. Mixture theories, such as the triphasic theory, can describe quantitatively how this charged nature contributes to the mechano-electrochemical behaviors of such tissue. However, the mathematical complexity of the theory has hindered its application to complicated loading profiles, e.g., indentation or other multi-dimensional configurations. In this study, the governing equations of triphasic mixture theory for soft tissue were linearized and dramatically simplified by using a regular perturbation method and the use of two potential functions. We showed that this new formulation can be used for any axisymmetric problem, such as confined or unconfined compressions, hydraulic perfusion, and indentation. A finite difference numerical program was further developed to calculate the deformational, electrical, and flow behaviors inside the articular cartilage under indentation. The calculated tissue response was highly consistent with the data from indentation experiments (our own and those reported in the literature). It was found that the charged nature of proteoglycans can increase the apparent stiffness of the solid matrix and lessen the viscous effect introduced by fluid flow. The effects of geometric and physical properties of indenter tip, cartilage thickness, and that of the electro-chemical properties of cartilage on the resulting deformation and fluid pressure fields across the tissue were also investigated and presented. These results have implications for studying chondrocyte mechanotransduction in different cartilage zones and for tissue engineering designs or in vivo cartilage repair.
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