Inversion of a Class of Nonlinear Stress-Strain Relationships of Biological Soft Tissues

Abstract

The mechanical properly of soft tissues is highly nonlinear. Normally, the stress tensor is a nonlinear function of the strain tensor. Correspondingly, the strain energy function is not a quadratic function of the strain. The problem resolved in the present paper is to invert the stress-strain relationship so that the strain tensor can be expressed as a nonlinear function of the stress tensor. Correspondingly, the strain energy function is inverted into the complementary energy function which is a function of stresses. It is shown that these inversions can be done quite simply if the strain energy function is an analytic function of a polynomial of the strain components of the second degree. We have shown previously that experimental results on the skin, the blood vessels, the mesentery, and the lung tissue can be best described by strain energy functions of this type. Therefore, the inversion presented here is applicable to these tissues. On the other hand, a popular strain energy function, a polynomial of third degree or higher, cannot be so inverted.