Numerical investigation of role of synovial fluid in a poroelastic model of natural human knee joint during walking

Abstract

In natural human knee joint, articular cartilage and meniscus are consisted of a solid phase and a fluid phase. Furthermore, considering synovial fluid as the lubricant and interaction between synovial fluid and surrounding poroelastic tissues are necessary for lubrication of the knee joint. Therefore, the poroelastic model of the human knee joint is essential for understanding of mechanical behavior of the knee joint. Unfortunately, most of the studies in the knee joint considered it as single phase. In this paper, an ideal poroelastic model of the knee joint was developed, and mechanical behavior of the knee joint during walking was investigated. Poroelastic material was used for articular cartilage, anisotropic poroelastic material was used for meniscus and linear elastic material was used for femur. In this study stress in solid phase and pressure in fluid phase was investigated. Results of this study have shown that 72% of load was carried by the fluid phase.