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The effect of shear fatigue on bovine articular cartilage
Author(s) -
Simon William H.,
Mak Arthur,
Spirt Adrienne
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of orthopaedic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1554-527X
pISSN - 0736-0266
DOI - 10.1002/jor.1100080111
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , shear modulus , shear (geology) , strain (injury) , articular cartilage , scanning electron microscope , dynamic mechanical analysis , modulus , dynamic modulus , moduli , proteoglycan , shear stress , cartilage , biomedical engineering , anatomy , osteoarthritis , polymer , pathology , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , quantum mechanics
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mechanical fatigue in the form of cyclic shear strain on articular cartilage. Three millimeter diameter full‐thickness plugs were cored from the lateral aspect of bovine tibial plateaus. Sinusoidal shear strains of ±5, ±10, and ±15% were applied to the specimens at 100 Hz for 3 h (a total of 108 ±X 10 4 cycles). The mechanical shear properties of the tissue (loss and storage moduli) were determined as a function of the number of applied strain cycles. A rapid, irreversible decrease of approximately 35% of initial modulus was found to occur in both loss and storage modulus during application of the first 90,000 cycles. Further decay in the moduli was found to occur from 90 ±X 10 3 to 108 ±X 10 4 cycles, but was of considerably smaller magnitude than the initial decrease. The moduli remained relatively constant beyond application of 108 ±X 10 4 cycles. No consistent change in proteoglycan content was found to be associated with the fatigue process when comparing tested specimens with fresh untested tissue, and with experimental controls. In addition, no structural defects in the mechanically altered tissue were revealed by scanning electron microscopy.