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Ligament creep cannot be predicted from stress relaxation at low stress: A biomechanical study of the rabbit medial collateral ligament
Author(s) -
Thornton G. M.,
Oliynyk A.,
Frank C. B.,
Shrive N. G.
Publication year - 1997
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.1100150504
Subject(s) - creep , viscoelasticity , stress relaxation , materials science , ligament , medial collateral ligament , relaxation (psychology) , stress (linguistics) , deformation (meteorology) , biomechanics , standard linear solid model , composite material , anatomy , medicine , linguistics , philosophy
In normal daily activity, ligaments are probably subjected to repeated loading rather than to repeated deformation. The viscoelastic response to repeated loading is creep; this effect has significance for ligament reconstructions, which potentially “stretch out” over time. However, most experimental studies have examined the viscoelastic response to repeated deformation, stress relaxation. We hypothesized that the creep of a ligament could be predicted from its stress‐relaxation behaviour. Left and right medial collateral ligaments of eight skeletally mature rabbits were subjected to either creep or stress‐relaxation testing under comparable conditions. The time‐dependent increase in strain (creep) and reduction in load (relaxation) from the tests were modelled with use of the quasilinear viscoelastic theory and generalized standard linear solid modelling. Ligaments were found to creep distinctly less than would be predicted from relaxation tests. Although the reason for this behaviour remains unknown, we speculate that it is due to the progressive recruitment of collagen fibres during creep.