Abstract
We evaluated stress distributions of a human common carotid artery (CCA) by finite element modeling of various combinations of wall layers. In the experiment, we separated intima, media, and adventitia from ring-shaped vascular walls and carried out uniaxial stretching tests on each of them. The experimental stress-strain relationship for each hyperelastic layer was later used to determine the material constants with an assumption of uniaxial loading condition. At last these material constants were used in the finite element analysis of the vessel. Models with various combinations of vascular layers including their stress-free configurations were compared by evaluating the stress distribution of a CCA under a constant axial stretch of 1.1 and a blood pressure of 16 kPa. By considering the stress-free state of the intimal layer, the maximum principal stress reduced significantly in the intima. This result indicates that the stress-free state of the intimal layer should be used for geometrical modeling if it bends backward by releasing the residual stress.
