title: Experimental characterization of post rigor mortis human muscle subjected to small tensile strains and application of a simple hyper-viscoelastic model.
abstract: In models developed for impact biomechanics, muscles are usually represented with one-dimensional elements having active and passive properties. The passive properties of muscles are most often obtained from experiments performed on animal muscles, because limited data on human muscle are available. The aim of this study is thus to characterize the passive response of a human muscle in tension. Tensile tests at different strain rates (0.0045, 0.045, and 0.45 s⁻¹) were performed on 10 extensor carpi ulnaris muscles. A model composed of a nonlinear element defined with an exponential law in parallel with one or two Maxwell elements and considering basic geometrical features was proposed. The experimental results were used to identify the parameters of the model. The results for the first- and second-order model were similar. For the first-order model, the mean parameters of the exponential law are as follows: Young's modulus E (6.8 MPa) and curvature parameter α (31.6). The Maxwell element mean values are as follows: viscosity parameter η (1.2 MPa s) and relaxation time τ (0.25 s). Our results provide new data on a human muscle tested in vitro and a simple model with basic geometrical features that represent its behavior in tension under three different strain rates. This approach could be used to assess the behavior of other human muscles.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biomécanique (LBM), Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Paris, France Université de Lyon, F-69622, Lyon, France Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France IFSTTAR, UMR_T9406, LBMC Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs, F-69675, Bron, France laurelise.gras@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Laure-Lise
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Gras
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biomécanique (LBM), Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laporte
authors.affiliation: Arts et Metiers ParisTech, I2M-DuMAS, UMR 5295 CNRS, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viot
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, F-69622, Lyon, France Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France IFSTTAR, UMR_T9406, LBMC Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs, F-69675, Bron, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009038:Motion; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D012298:Rigor Mortis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014783:Viscosity
keywords: Biomechanics; Maxwell model; human muscle; strain rate; tensile test