title: Multi-scale modeling of soft fibrous tissues based on proteoglycan mechanics.
abstract: Collagen in the form of fibers or fibrils is an essential source of strength and structural integrity in most organs of the human body. Recently, with the help of complex experimental setups, a paradigm change concerning the mechanical contribution of proteoglycans (PGs) took place. Accordingly, PG connections protect the surrounding collagen fibrils from over-stretching rather than transmitting load between them. In this paper, we describe the reported PG mechanics and incorporate it into a multi-scale model of soft fibrous tissues. To this end, a nano-to-micro model of a single collagen fiber is developed by taking the entropic-energetic transition on the collagen molecule level into account. The microscopic damage occurring inside the collagen fiber is elucidated by sliding of PGs as well as by over-stretched collagen molecules. Predictions of this two-constituent-damage model are compared to experimental data available in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Continuum Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Kackertstr. 9, 52072 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: linka@km.rwth-aachen.de.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Linka
authors.affiliation: Department of Continuum Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Kackertstr. 9, 52072 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Vu Ngoc
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Khiêm
authors.affiliation: Department of Continuum Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Kackertstr. 9, 52072 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itskov
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011509:Proteoglycans; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Multi-scale modeling; Proteoglycans; Soft fibrous tissues