Poroelastic Properties Research Articles

Semi-analytical results for transient poroelastic behavior of a functionally graded hollow sphere

This paper provides semi-analytical results for transient poroelastic behaviors of a functionally graded hollow sphere that are lacking in the present literature. The whole medium is theoretically approximated by a spherical multilayer structure. Each layer is treated as a homogeneous spherical shell. The solutions are first explicitly obtained in Laplace space, and then the advanced Stehfest’s inversion method is employed to transform these results into the time domain. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method against the most relevant results given in literature. These validations are for some particular cases where literature results exist, but the capacity of this model is beyond those validation cases. Besides, sensitivity analysis demonstrates the significant impact of radial variations in poroelastic properties on the resulting mechanical fields. These findings are extremely important for validating the correctness and the convergence of sophisticated 3D finite element/finite volume software.

Poroelastic Properties of Sierra White Granite

Poroelastic Properties of Sierra White Granite

Quantification of Cartilage Poroelastic Material Properties Via Analysis of Loading-Induced Cell Death.

Articular cartilage (AC) is a load-bearing tissue that covers long bones in synovial joints. The biphasic/poroelastic mechanical properties of AC help it to protect joints by distributing loads, absorbing impact forces, and reducing friction. Unfortunately, alterations in these mechanical properties adversely impact cartilage function and precede joint degeneration in the form of osteoarthritis (OA). Thus, understanding what factors regulate the poroelastic mechanical properties of cartilage is of great scientific and clinical interest. Transgenic mouse models provide a valuable platform to delineate how specific genes contribute to cartilage mechanical properties. However, the poroelastic mechanical properties of murine articular cartilage are challenging to measure due to its small size (thickness ∼ 50 microns). In the current study, our objective was to test whether the poroelastic mechanical properties of murine articular cartilage can be determined based solely on time-dependent cell death measurements under constant loading conditions. We hypothesized that in murine articular cartilage subjected to constant, sub-impact loading from an incongruent surface, cell death area and tissue strain are closely correlated. We further hypothesized that the relationship between cell death area and tissue strain can be used-in combination with inverse finite element modeling-to compute poroelastic mechanical properties. To test these hypotheses, murine cartilage-on-bone explants from different anatomical locations were subjected to constant loading conditions by an incongruent surface in a custom device. Cell death area increased over time and scaled linearly with strain, which rose in magnitude over time due to poroelastic creep. Thus, we were able to infer tissue strain from cell death area measurements. Moreover, using tissue strain values inferred from cell death area measurements, we applied an inverse finite element modeling procedure to compute poroelastic material properties and acquired data consistent with previous studies. Collectively, our findings demonstrate in the key role poroelastic creep plays in mediating cell survival in mechanically loaded cartilage and verify that cell death area can be used as a surrogate measure of tissue strain that enables determination of murine cartilage mechanical properties.

Surface-Constrained Metropolis Monte Carlo: Simulation of Reactions on Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces.

Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) inspired by nature serve as a foundation for developing novel nanomaterials, such as templated silicas, graphene sponges, and schwarzites, with customizable optical, poroelastic, adsorptive, catalytic, and other properties. Computer simulations of reactions on TPMS using reactive intermolecular potentials hold great promise for constructing and screening potential TPMS with the desired properties. Here, we developed an off-lattice, surface-constrained Metropolis Monte Carlo (SC-MMC) algorithm that utilized a temperature quench process. The presented SC-MMC algorithm was used to investigate the process of graphitization reactions on the Schwarz primitive, Schwarz diamond, and Schoen gyroid TPMS, all with a cubic lattice parameter of 8 nm. We show that the optimized carbon TPMS exhibits a low energy, approximately -7.1 eV/atom, comparable to that of graphite and diamond crystals, along with a variety of topological defects. Furthermore, these structures showcase extensive and smooth surfaces characterized by a negative discrete Gaussian curvature, a distinctive feature indicative of an interconnected morphology. They possess specific surface areas of ∼2700 m2/g, comparable to graphene, and exhibit a significant porosity of around 90%. The theoretical X-ray correlation functions and nitrogen adsorption isotherms confirm that the constructed TPMS exhibit remarkably similar surface properties, although the pore space topology varies significantly.

Stress‐Induced Anisotropic Poroelasticity in Westerly Granite

AbstractWe measured poroelastic properties of cracked granite under triaxial conditions, at elevated confining pressure and a range of differential stresses. Skempton's coefficients and undrained Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were determined directly by recording in situ fluid pressure during rapid cycles of axial and radial stress. Drained properties were measured both statically and dynamically at ultrasonic frequencies. At a given confining pressure, increasing differential stress leads to the development of elastically transverse isotropy, with symmetry axis aligned with the compression axis. Skempton's coefficients are also anisotropic, with larger changes in pore pressure in response to radial stress (coefficient Bx) than to axial stress steps (Bz). The anisotropy in the Skempton coefficients increases with increasing differential stress, with Bz decreasing and Bx slightly increasing. The evolution of static moduli and the Skempton coefficients is well approximated by Gassmann's equation using dry moduli obtained from ultrasonic measurements. Simplified predictions of the Skempton coefficients based on crack density tensors inverted from dynamic data also shows acceptable agreement with direct observations. Perfect quantitative agreement is not reached, due to the imprecision of our dynamic measurements, model simplifications, and inherent differences between static moduli obtained using stress steps of several MPa stress and dynamic ultrasonic stress oscillations.

InSAR-observed surface deformation in New Mexico’s Permian Basin shows threats and opportunities presented by leaky injection wells

Knowledge of aquifer dynamics, including groundwater storage changes, is key to effective groundwater resource and reservoir management. Resolving and accurate modeling of these processes requires knowledge of subsurface poroelastic properties and lateral heterogeneity within units of interest. Computationally demanding methods for determining lateral heterogeneity in poroelastic properties exist but remain difficult to practically employ. The InSAR-based detection of uplift over a New Mexico well with a casing breach provides an opportunity to determine poroelastic properties using a tractable 2D analytical plane strain solution for surface uplift created by a pressurized reservoir with overburden. Using a Bayesian inversion framework, we calculate poroelastic properties under deep (depth of well-screen) and shallow (depth of well-breach) conditions. We find that shallow injection is necessary to produce the observed deformation. However, pressure-varying forward solutions for uplift are required to reproduce the temporal evolution of deformation. For this we use realistic shallow poroelastic properties and well dynamics, which reflect the evolving injection conditions at the well breach as the casing further erodes. Analysis of individual interferograms or InSAR time series may provide insights into shallow subsurface heterogeneity or anomalous injection conditions at operating wells more rapidly than scheduled field inspections.

The influence of static portal pressure on liver biophysical properties.

The liver is a highly vascularized organ where fluid properties, including vascular pressure, vessel integrity and fluid viscosity, play a critical role in gross mechanical properties. To study the effects of portal pressure, liver confinement, fluid viscosity, and tissue crosslinking on liver stiffness, water diffusion, and vessel size, we applied multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), including multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements, to ex vivo livers from healthy male rats (13.6±1.6 weeks) at room temperature. Four scenarios including altered liver confinement, tissue crosslinking, and vascular fluid viscosity were investigated with mpMRI at different portal pressure levels (0-17.5 cmH2O). Our experiments demonstrated that, with increasing portal pressure, rat livers showed higher water content, water diffusivity, and increased vessel sizes quantified by the vessel tissue volume fraction (VTVF). These effects were most pronounced in native, unconfined livers (VTVF: 300±120%, p<0.05, ADC: 88±29%, p<0.01), while still significant under confinement (confined: VTVF: 53±32%, p<0.01, ADC: 28±19%, p<0.05; confined-fixed: VTVF: 52±20%, p<0.001, ADC: 11±2%, p<0.01; confined-viscous: VTVF: 210±110%, p<0.01, ADC: 26±9%, p<0.001). Softening with elevated portal pressure (-12±5, p<0.05) occurred regardless of confinement and fixation. However, the liver stiffened when exposed to a more viscous inflow fluid (11±4%, p<0.001). Taken together, our results elucidate the complex relationship between macroscopic-biophysical parameters of liver tissue measured by mpMRI and vascular-fluid properties. Influenced by portal pressure, vascular permeability, and matrix crosslinking, liver stiffness is sensitive to intrinsic poroelastic properties, which, alongside vascular architecture and water diffusivity, may aid in the differential diagnosis of liver disease. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Using highly controllable ex vivo rat liver phantoms, hepatic biophysical properties such as tissue-vascular structure, stiffness, and water diffusivity were investigated using multiparametric MRI including multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Through elaborate tuning of the experimental conditions such as the static portal pressure, flow viscosity, amount and distribution of fluid content in the liver, we identified the contributions of the fluid component to the overall imaging-based biophysical properties of the liver. Our finding demonstrated the sensitivity of liver stiffness to the hepatic poroelastic properties, which may aid in the differential diagnosis of liver diseases.

Sensitivity of simulated knee joint mechanics to selected human and bovine fibril-reinforced poroelastic material properties

Fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic material models are considered state-of-the-art in modeling articular cartilage biomechanics. Yet, cartilage material parameters are often based on bovine tissue properties in computational knee joint models, although bovine properties are distinctly different from those of humans. Thus, we aimed to investigate how cartilage mechanical responses are affected in the knee joint model during walking when fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic properties of cartilage are based on human data instead of bovine. We constructed a finite element knee joint model in which tibial and femoral cartilages were modeled as fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic material using either human or bovine data. Joint loading was based on subject-specific gait data. The resulting mechanical responses of knee cartilage were compared between the knee joint models with human or bovine fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic cartilage properties. Furthermore, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to determine which fibril-reinforced poroviscoelastic material parameters have the greatest impact on cartilage mechanical responses in the knee joint during walking. In general, bovine cartilage properties yielded greater maximum principal stresses and fluid pressures (both up to 30%) when compared to the human cartilage properties during the loading response in both femoral and tibial cartilage sites. Cartilage mechanical responses were very sensitive to the collagen fibril-related material parameter variations during walking while they were unresponsive to proteoglycan matrix or fluid flow-related material parameter variations. Taken together, human cartilage material properties should be accounted for when the goal is to compare absolute mechanical responses of knee joint cartilage as bovine material parameters lead to substantially different cartilage mechanical responses.

Multiscale expansion modeling of concrete with free lime-based expansive additives under isotropic conditions using poromechanics

Expansive additives have been used in concrete to compensate for shrinkage and to induce chemical pre-stress. The cement paste incurs internal expansive stress owing to the formation of confined portlandite and ettringite crystals in the pore network, resulting in expansion at the macroscale. In this study, a poromechanical model was designed to model the expansion of cement paste and concrete due to the formation of such expansive hydrates. The effective expansive stress on the cement paste was calculated considering the volume of the hydrates derived from the hydration model and tangent poroelastic properties estimated using a micromechanical scheme. Experiments were performed to measure the expansion of the cement paste and concrete with different amounts of expansive additives under stress-free and restraint conditions. The model predictions were compared with the experimentally measured expansion, which confirmed the rationality of the model for estimating free expansion. Finally, the extension of the current modeling framework to estimate the restrained expansion of concrete is deliberated. The proposed multiscale model can be employed by the engineers to estimate the expansion of cement paste and concrete with EA and provide insights to estimate the amount of EA required for a given application.

Unveiling the Rheological Control of Magmatic Systems on Volcano Deformation: The Interplay of Poroviscoelastic Magma‐Mush and Thermo‐Viscoelastic Crust

AbstractUnderstanding the mechanical evolution of magmatic systems requires careful assessment of their rheological characteristics, particularly in light of the growing evidence that magma reservoirs are dominated by magma‐mush surrounded by thermally‐altered host‐rock. To address this complexity, we develop models for volcano deformation based on a poroviscoelastic source within a thermo‐viscoelastic host. We use Finite Element modeling to investigate the rheological and mechanical response to melt injection in a Maxwell poroviscoelastic reservoir hosted in a temperature‐dependent standard linear solid viscoelastic (“thermo‐viscoelastic”) crust. Our models consider the competing roles of poroelastic diffusion, and viscoelastic creep and relaxation. All cause time‐dependent post‐injection deformation. Post‐injection deformation of a poroviscoelastic reservoir in an elastic crust is dominated by poroelastic diffusion, a consequence of the short relaxation timescale of a hot and relatively low viscosity mush. For cooler, more viscous mush, the magnitude of viscoelastic deformation increases, supplementing the deformation caused by post‐injection poroelastic diffusion. Thermo‐viscoelasticity of the crust amplifies the poroelastic deformation response of the magma‐mush, leading to increased time‐dependent deformation both during and after melt injection. The rate of post‐injection surface deformation decreases at a rate proportional to the reservoir temperature. Crucially, our model sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the wall rock thermo‐viscoelastic response contributes more to surface deformation than the viscous effect of the magma‐mush. For this reason, neglecting the viscoelastic properties of the host rock and the poroelastic properties of the reservoir in interpretations of surface deformation data could produce errors in inferred processes (e.g., injection duration) and subsurface characteristics (e.g., reservoir compressibility, shape and depth).

A cuboidal open cell model for constitutive modeling of surface effects in fluid-saturated porous materials

Fluid-saturated porous elastic materials, made up of connected networks of solid ligaments and characteristically having open pores, are commonly found in geological, biological and engineering materials. Surface effects can affect significantly the mechanical performance of such porous materials at macro scale, especially when the solid ligaments and the pores have micro or nano scale sizes. In the present study, in order to explicitly link pore-level geometrical parameters and surface effects with effective poroelastic properties as well as constitutive equations governing poroelastic deformation, we combine the top-down homogenization approach presented a previous study (Chen et al., 2021) with the bottom-up micromechanics approach. Inspired by the Gibson-Ashby cubic cell model for open-cell foams and the cellular networks typically found in fluid-saturated porous materials, we propose a cuboidal open cell model, with surface effects and fluid compressibility accounted for. For two limiting cases, i.e., the undrained state and the drained state, we demonstrate that both the surface moduli and residual surface stress (i.e., surface tension) prevent the deformation of solid ligaments, thus stiffening the porous material with enlarged effective Young's moduli. Further, we reveal that the two surface effect parameters (i.e., residual surface stress versus surface moduli) exhibit a coupling effect on effective moduli: when one parameter is large enough, the variation of the other affects significantly the effective moduli. As applications of the proposed model, we characterize mechanical behaviors of the porous material under typical loadings (e.g., uniaxial and non-proportional multiaxial tension) in both undrained and drained states; we also describe, for the first time, the stress concentration of a compressible liquid inclusion (e.g., a cell) with surface tension embedded in a fluid-saturated porous material with surface effects. Results of this study are beneficial for understanding and investigating how surface effects influence the poroelastic parameters of fluid-saturated porous materials having sufficiently small open pores.

Crossover behavior in stress relaxations of poroelastic and viscoelastic dominant hydrogels.

The mechanical response and relaxation behavior of hydrogels are crucial to their diverse functions and applications. However, understanding how stress relaxation depends on the material properties of hydrogels and accurately modeling relaxation behavior at multiple time scales remains a challenge for soft matter mechanics and soft material design. While a crossover phenomenon in stress relaxation has been observed in hydrogels, living cells, and tissues, little is known about how the crossover behavior and characteristic crossover time depend on material properties. In this study, we conducted systematic atomic-force-microscopy (AFM) measurements of stress relaxation in agarose hydrogels with varying types, indentation depths, and concentrations. Our findings show that the stress relaxation of these hydrogels features a crossover from short-time poroelastic relaxation to long-time power-law viscoelastic relaxation at the micron scale. The crossover time for a poroelastic-dominant hydrogel is determined by the length scale of the contact and diffusion coefficient of the solvent inside the gel network. In contrast, for a viscoelastic-dominant hydrogel, the crossover time is closely related to the shortest relaxation time of the disordered network. We also compared the stress relaxation and crossover behavior of hydrogels with those of living cells and tissues. Our experimental results provide insights into the dependence of crossover time on poroelastic and viscoelastic properties and demonstrate that hydrogels can serve as model systems for studying a wide range of mechanical behaviors and emergent properties in biomaterials, living cells, and tissues.

Understanding the Influence of Local Physical Stimuli on Chondrocyte Behavior.

Investigating the mechanobiology of chondrocytes is challenging due to the complex micromechanical environment of cartilage tissue. The innate zonal differences and poroelastic properties of the tissue combined with its heterogeneous composition create spatial- and temporal-dependent cell behavior, which further complicates the investigation. Despite the numerous challenges, understanding the mechanobiology of chondrocytes is crucial for developing strategies for treating cartilage related diseases as chondrocytes are the only cell type within the tissue. The effort to understand chondrocyte behavior under various mechanical stimuli has been ongoing over the last 50years. Early studies examined global biosynthetic behavior under unidirectional mechanical stimulus. With the technological development in high-speed confocal imaging techniques, recent studies have focused on investigating real-time individual and collective cell responses to multiple / combined modes of mechanical stimuli. Such efforts have led to tremendous advances in understanding the influence of local physical stimuli on chondrocyte behavior. In addition, we highlight the wide variety of experimental techniques, spanning from static to impact loading, and analysis techniques, from biochemical assays to machine learning, that have been utilized to study chondrocyte behavior. Finally, we review the progression of hypotheses about chondrocyte mechanobiology and provide a perspective on the future outlook of chondrocyte mechanobiology.

Thermo-elastodynamic study of the nanocomposite circular sector plates exposed to swift thermal shock

Owing to ruinous effects of thermal shocks on the nanocomposite structures, this study scrutinizes the thermal shock resistance of the poroelastic nanocomposite circular sector plates in the scheme of elasticity theory and application of the harmonic differential quadrature approach (HDQA). Due to the fact that the related studies published priorly were just able to predict the response of the simply-supported plates, the current research would be considered as the first study on the transient thermal shock response of the above-mentioned plates with fully-clamped boundary conditions. To determine the system’s time-dependent response, differential equations are translated to the Laplace domain. Then, the modified declaration of the Dubner and Abate’s technique is exploited to derive the time realization of the system’s response from the Laplace domain. The validation procedure of the current analysis is performed by comparing the outcomes with those claimed in the published researches. In order to clearly assess the system’s shock resistance against the abrupt thermal load, effect of various parameters such as thermal relaxation time (TRT), different scattering models and volume fraction of the nano reinforcement, boundary conditions, intensity of the shock, poroelastic properties of the nanocomposite, and radius to thickness ratio of the sector plate on the thermo-elastodynamic response of the system are investigated. It is revealed that the sensitivity of the system’s response to increase of TRT subsides when TRT is over an upper bond.

Coupled horizontal and rocking vibrations of a rigid circular disc on the surface of a transversely isotropic and layered poroelastic half‐space

The coupled horizontal and rocking vibrations of a rigid circular disc resting on a transversely isotropic (TI) and layered poroelastic half-space is solved by a newly developed semi-analytical method for the first time. The poroelastic medium is modelled via Biot's poroelastodynamic theory. The Green's function corresponding to the horizontal uniform and vertical linearly changing patch loads on the surface of the layered half-space are first derived by virtue of the cylindrical system of vector functions and dual variable and position method. To solve the dynamic interaction, the influence function by the ring load is then introduced and calculated via the method of superposition. Together with the mixed boundary-value conditions, the dynamic horizontal, rocking, and coupling compliances are finally solved by a novel discretization scheme and an integral least-square approach. The developed fundamental solutions are verified by comparing with existing solutions in the purely elastic and poroelastic media. Numerical examples are presented to investigate the influence of poroelastic properties on the coupled vibration characteristics, which could be useful to the dynamic design of foundation on the saturated soil. It should be emphasized that the effect of the coupling compliance must be considered since its contribution can be as large as 26%, compared to the diagonal compliances.

Viscoporoelasticity of coagulation blood clots

A blood clot is an essential biological tissue in physiological hemostasis and pathological thrombus in human bodies. In both physiological and pathological activities, the blood clots are often under external force from the blood flow. Quantifying the mechanical properties of the blood clot is important for the diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders and thrombotic diseases. In this work, the blood clot is shown to be viscoporoelastic and its properties are quantitatively characterized through combined rheology and indentation measurements. First, the viscoelasticity of the blood clot is determined by the shear rheology measurement because shear deformation does not induce volume change, and thus does not invoke the poroelastic behavior (i.e., coupled solvent migration and deformation) of the blood clot. Subsequently, an indentation test is carried out. Using a micromechanical testing machine, a spherical bead is pressed onto the blood clot to a certain depth and held for a period, meanwhile, the force is measured as a function of time. The force relaxation is contributed by both viscoelastic and poroelastic effects. Since the viscoelasticity of the blood clots has been fully characterized in shear rheology, the indentation data is used to determine the poroelastic properties of the blood clots. A general viscoporoelastic model is formulated and based on this model the relaxation indentation problem is simulated. By fitting the experimental force relaxation curves with the simulation results, the poroelastic parameters including permeability and drained Poisson’s ratio are obtained. Interestingly, the value of the drained Poisson’s ratio of the blood clot is very close to zero. To verify this behavior, we also carry out unconfined compression measurements to directly observe the volume evolution of the blood clot. The small value of drained Poisson’s ratio is validated by the unconfined compression result. Using the viscoporoelastic parameters determined in this work, we discuss the contribution of solvent migration and viscoelastic effect on the apparent modulus of the blood clot in physiologically relevant conditions. The high poroelasticity indicates the blood clot can withstand high instantaneous loads in the normal direction by resistance to solvent migration. Both poroelastic and viscoelastic processes dissipate energy, and thus could delay the fracture process of the material. This study systematically measures the viscoporoelastic properties of the blood clot and provides an understanding of the contributions of the two mechanisms to the time-dependent responses of coagulation blood clots.

Poroelastic properties of rocks with a comparison of theoretical estimates and typical experimental results

The paper develops theoretical estimates for the parameters that describe the classical theory of poroelasticity for a fluid-saturated porous medium, with a porous elastic skeleton that can exhibit imperfect grain contacts. The results for the poroelastic properties predicted from the modelling are compared with experimental results available in the literature.

Effects of the microstructural uncertainties on the poroelastic and the diffusive properties of mortar

The assessment of the durability of civil engineering structures subjected to several chemical attacks requires the development of chemo-poromechanical models. The mechanical and chemical degradations depend on several factors such as the initial composition of the porous medium. A multi-scale model is used to incorporate the multi-level microstructural properties of the mortar material. The present paper aims to study the effect of morphological and local material properties uncertainties on the poroelastic and diffusive properties of mortar estimated with the help of analytical homogenization. At first, the proposed model is validated for different cement paste and mortar by comparison to experimental results and micromechanical models. Secondly, based on a literature study, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis have been developed to assess the stochastic predictions of the multi-scale model. The main result highlights the predominant impact of the cement matrix phases (C-S-H) and interfacial transition area at the mortar scale. Furthermore, the sensitive analysis underlines that the material properties induce more variability than the volume fraction.

Effective poroelastic properties of N-layered composite sphere assemblage: An application to oolitic limestone

This article derives the effective poroelastic properties of N-layered composite assemblage. The derivation is based on the Hashin composite sphere assemblage (CSA) model and the linear elastic solution of n-layer coated inclusion-reinforced materials proposed by Hervé and Zaoui. The contribution of this study consists in the consideration of the poromechanical coupling to derive not only the bulk and shear drained moduli but also the Biot coefficient and the solid Biot modulus. The theoretical solutions are used for studying the oolitic limestone from Bourgogne (France), in which the microstructure exhibits generally an assemblage of oolite grains surrounded by a matrix. They are linked via interphase where most of the macropores locate. A two-step homogenisation scheme is proposed. The first step consists in upscaling the mesoscopic poroelastic properties of each porous phase by using the differential self-consistent scheme. In the second step, the three different porous constituents (oolite, ITZ and matrix) are homogenised using the CSA model. Results are validated against the data collected from the open literature.

A musculoskeletal finite element model of rat knee joint for evaluating cartilage biomechanics during gait.

Abnormal loading of the knee due to injuries or obesity is thought to contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Small animal models have been used for studying OA progression mechanisms. However, numerical models to study cartilage responses under dynamic loading in preclinical animal models have not been developed. Here we present a musculoskeletal finite element model of a rat knee joint to evaluate cartilage biomechanical responses during a gait cycle. The rat knee joint geometries were obtained from a 3-D MRI dataset and the boundary conditions regarding loading in the joint were extracted from a musculoskeletal model of the rat hindlimb. The fibril-reinforced poroelastic (FRPE) properties of the rat cartilage were derived from data of mechanical indentation tests. Our numerical results showed the relevance of simulating anatomical and locomotion characteristics in the rat knee joint for estimating tissue responses such as contact pressures, stresses, strains, and fluid pressures. We found that the contact pressure and maximum principal strain were virtually constant in the medial compartment whereas they showed the highest values at the beginning of the gait cycle in the lateral compartment. Furthermore, we found that the maximum principal stress increased during the stance phase of gait, with the greatest values at midstance. We anticipate that our approach serves as a first step towards investigating the effects of gait abnormalities on the adaptation and degeneration of rat knee joint tissues and could be used to evaluate biomechanically-driven mechanisms of the progression of OA as a consequence of joint injury or obesity.