A microstructurally motivated anisotropic viscoelastic model for soft tissues

Abstract

In this paper, a microstructurally motivated approach to take into account the anisotropic viscoelastic behaviour of soft biological tissues is proposed. The constitutive model is based on the assumption that this behaviour results from an interaction between collagen fibres and surrounding matrix constituents. Accordingly, a non-linear viscoelastic one-dimensional model for fibres and the nearby ground substance is developed. This model is then generalised to the anisotropic three-dimensional case.