Open Access

ARTICLE

Growth, Anisotropy, and Residual Stresses in Arteries

K. Y. Volokh ^{1, 2} , Y. Lev³

1 Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Mechanical Engineering Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
2 corresponding author; on leave of absence from the Technion; address: Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, The Ross Research Building, 720 Rutland Avenue/Room 235/ Baltimore, MD 21205, Phone: 410-502-6416, Fax: 410-502-6414, E-mail: kvolokh@jhu.edu; cvolokh@technion.ac.il
3 Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2005, 2(1), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3970/mcb.2005.002.027

Abstract

A simple phenomenological theory of tissue growth is used in order to demonstrate that volumetric growth combined with material anisotropy can lead to accumulation of residual stresses in arteries. The theory is applied to growth of a cylindrical blood vessel with the anisotropy moduli derived from experiments. It is shown that bending resultants are developed in the ring cross-section of the artery. These resultants may cause the ring opening or closing after cutting the artery \textit {in vitro} as it is observed in experiments. It is emphasized that the mode of the arterial ring opening is affected by the parameters of anisotropy.

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Keywords

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