Abstract
A newly designed experimental setup was fabricated to measure rupture properties of aortic aneurysms. Square specimen obtained from human thoracic aortic aneurysms was inflated by air pressure at a rate of 10 mmHg/s until rupture occurs. Deformation process was observed through two CCD cameras and a high-speed camera. Mean breaking stress and strain were estimated from the specimen geometry considering incompressibility, resulting in 0.97±0.39Mpa (mean±SD) and 0.64±0.10,respectively. Moreover, significant difference was found between mean breaking stress and area fraction of collagen fibers. It should provide clinically useful information to know mechanical properties of human aortic aneurysms in assessing potential for aneurysm rupture.
