A MICRO-STRUCTURAL MUSCLE FIBRE MODEL SHOWS TENSION-COMPRESSION ASYMMETRY MECHANISMS

Abstract

Skeletal muscle tissue presents a highly asymmetrical behaviour when passively loaded in tension or compression, but no structural model addressing this has been reported. Passive skeletal muscle derives its structural response from titin filaments, collagen fibres in the connective tissue and incompressibility due to high fluid content. The objective of this paper is to develop a micro-structurally based mathematical model to predict the known tension-compression asymmetry. Such a model is a precursor to future constitutive formulations for finite element modelling.