title: On the anisotropy of skeletal muscle tissue under compression.
abstract: This paper deals with the role of the muscle fibres and extracellular matrix (ECM) components when muscle tissue is subjected to compressive loads. To this end, dissected tissue samples were tested in compression modes which induced states of fibres in compression (I), in tension (II) or at constant length (III), respectively. A comparison of the stress responses indicated that the tissue behaviour is significantly different for these modes, including differences between the modes (I) and (III). This contradicts the paradigm of many constitutive models that the stress response can be decomposed into an isotropic part relating to the ECM and an anisotropic fibre part the contribution of which can be neglected under compression. Conversely, the results provide experimental evidence that there is an anisotropic contribution of the fibre direction to the compressive stress. Interpreting these results in terms of recent microscopical studies, potential connections between the observed behaviour and the structure of muscle ECM are established.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: m.boel@tu-bs.de.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Böl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany; Institute of Mechanical Systems, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexander E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ehret
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leichsenring
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weichert
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kruse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001669:Biochemical Phenomena; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005109:Extracellular Matrix; D005260:Female; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine
keywords: Constitutive models; Extracellular matrix; Porcine biceps femoris muscle; Pure shear; Skeletal muscle