Viscoelastic modeling of ovine cervical intervertebral disc through stress-relaxation, constant strain rate and dynamic loading tests

Abstract

Viscoelasticity is an inherent feature in the most number of soft tissues. It’s obligatory to consider this feature in biomechanical analysis. Intervertebral disc has also viscoelastic properties. Many studies have been done to scrutinize the quality of viscoelastic behavior of this tissue. In this study, stress-relaxation, constant strain rate and dynamic loading tests have been performed on an ovine cervical disc. Two different methods of curve fitting for stress-relaxation tests have been used to find viscoelastic parameters in order to estimate the viscoelastic behavior of the disc. Also the non-linearity of the disc has been proven through constant strain rate tests. The dynamic parameters have also been estimated in the dynamic loading tests. These data can provide insights for the researchers studying in this field.