APPLICATION OF FINITE-ELEMENTS TO THE STRESS-ANALYSIS OF ARTICULAR-CARTILAGE

A common effect of arthritic disease processes in synovial joints is d eterioration of the articular cartilage. Therefore, an improved unders tanding of the relationships between the composition and structure of articular cartilage and the mechanical behaviour is a subject of consi derable interest. The numerical modelling tool of finite element (FE) analysis has been widely applied to analyse the behaviour of articular cartilage under compressive stress. FE analysis enables parameters an d boundary conditions to be investigated which are not accessible expe rimentally or analytically. The biphasic theory describes the constitu tive behaviour of soft hydrated biological tissues, such as articular cartilage, and has been successfully implemented using FE analysis. Th e development of successively more compressive biphasic models is desc ribed here detailing the use of FE analysis in modelling experimental configurations such as indentation. Key work in the area is reviewed i n this paper.