接触負荷における軟骨の異方性・不均一性がカ学・電気化学挙動に及ぼす影響に関する検討

抄録

Articular cartilages are composed of extracellular matrix, interstitial water and negatively charged proteoglycan aggregates. Furthermore, the articular cartilages have anisotropic and inhomogeneous structure which contains three zones with different collagen content and fibrils orientation. On the other hand, contact phenomenon is a mechanical characteristic of articular cartilages since the diarthrodial joint functions as a load transfer mechanism by contact between cartilage surfaces. In this work, the anisotropic and inhomogeneous structure of the articular cartilages was introduced into the mechano-electrochemical coupling contact analysis algorithm. By taking into account the distribution of the collagen content and fibrils orientation in the cartilage layers, the sliding contact analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of the anisotropy and inhomogeneity of cartilage on the mechano-electrochemical behaviors.