Numerical simulation of deformations and electrical potentials in a cartilage substitute

Abstract

Cartilage exhibits a swelling and shrinking behaviour that influences the function of the cells inside the tissue. This behaviour is caused by mechanical, chemical and electrical loads. It is described by the electrochemomechanical mixture theory, in which the tissue is represented by four components: a charged porous solid, a fluid, cations and anions. By distinguishing between the cations and anions, electrical phenomena can be modelled. This mixture theory is verified by fitting the deformations and the electrical potentials in a uniaxial confined swelling and compression experiment to a mixed finite element simulation. The fitted stiffness, permeability, diffusion coefficients, and osmotic coefficients are in the same range as reported in literature.