Constitutive characterization of vocal fold viscoelasticity based on a modified Arruda-Boyce eight-chain model

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that vocal fold tissues exhibit nonlinear viscoelastic behavior under different loading conditions. Hysteresis and strain rate dependence of stress–strain curves have been observed for vocal fold ligament and muscle tissues when subjected to sinusoidal tensile loading. Nonlinear viscoelastic response and tissue failure have also been described for vocal fold mucosa subjected to constant strain-rate tests under large-strain shear. These findings cannot be adequately described by the traditional constitutive formulations of linear and quasilinear viscoelasticity. This study attempts to characterize some nonlinear behavior of vocal fold tissues under tensile loading based on a modified version of the Arruda-Boyce (Bergström-Boyce) hyperelastic model for polymers, which has been shown to adequately predict the rate-dependent behavior of some elastomers and biological tissues. Results indicated that the model was only capable of describing the relatively linear portion of the nonlinear stress–strain curves of the vocal fold muscle (at strain smaller than 20%), while failing to predict the exponential increase of stress at higher strain. However, the model was capable of predicting the dependence of stress on strain rate reasonably well. This finding was consistent with the model’s assumptions on the constitutive behavior of the two constituent polymer networks.