title: Modeling of Experimental Atherosclerotic Plaque Delamination.
abstract: A cohesive zone model (CZM) approach is applied to simulate atherosclerotic plaque delamination experiments in mouse abdominal aorta specimens. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed for the experiments. The aortic wall is treated as a fiber-reinforced, highly deformable, incompressible material, and the Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden (HGO) model is adopted for the aortic bulk material behavior. Cohesive elements are placed along the plaque-media interface along which delamination occurs. The 3D specimen geometry is created based on images from the experiments and certain simplifying approximations. A set of HGO and CZM parameter values is determined based on values suggested in the literature and through matching simulation predictions of the load vs. load-point displacement curve with experimental measurements for one loading-delamination-unloading cycle. Using this set of parameter values, simulation predictions for four other loading-delamination-unloading cycles are obtained, which show good agreement with experimental measurements. The findings of the current study demonstrate the applicability of the CZM approach in arterial tissue failure simulations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaochang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA. deng@cec.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lessner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E
keywords: Aorta; Atherosclerosis; Cohesive zone; Delamination; Energy release rate; Finite element; Plaque