Fractional-order poromechanics for a fully saturated biological tissue: Biomechanics of meniscus

Int J Numer Method Biomed Eng. 2023 Nov;39(11):e3732. doi: 10.1002/cnm.3732. Epub 2023 May 19.

Abstract

Biomechanics of biological fibrous tissues as the meniscus are strongly influenced by past histories of strains involving the so-called material hereditariness. In this paper, a three-axial model of linear hereditariness that makes use of fractional-order calculus is used to describe the constitutive behavior of the tissue. Fluid flow across meniscus' pores is modeled in this paper with Darcy relation yielding a novel model of fractional-order poromechanics, describing the evolution of the diffusion phenomenon in the meniscus. A numerical application involving an 1D confined compression test is reported to show the effect of the material hereditariness on the pressure drop evolution.

Keywords: fractional calculus; fractional-order hereditariness; meniscus; pore pressure; poromechanics.

MeSH terms

  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Diffusion
  • Meniscus*