Continuum Growth Mechanics: Reconciling Two Common Frameworks

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate whether the two most common growth mechanics modeling frameworks, the constrained-mixture growth model and the kinematic growth model, could be reconciled mathematically. The purpose of this effort was to provide practical guidelines for potential users of these modeling frameworks. Results showed that the kinematic growth model is mathematically consistent with a special form of the constrained-mixture growth model, where only one generation of a growing solid exists at any given time, overturning its entire solid mass at each instant of growth in order to adopt the reference configuration dictated by the growth deformation. The thermodynamics of the kinematic growth model, along with the specialized constrained-mixture growth model, requires a cellular supply of chemical energy to allow deposition of solid mass under a stressed state. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that the amount of chemical energy required to sustain biological growth under these models is negligibly small, when compared to the amount of energy normally consumed daily by the human body. In conclusion, this study successfully reconciled the two most popular growth theories for biological growth and explained the special circumstances under which the constrained-mixture growth model reduces to the kinematic growth model.