An analytical calculation of the fluid load support fraction in a biphasic material: An alternative technique

Background uid load support fraction (WF/WT) can be used to define the mechanical contribution of the interstitial fluid (WF) to the total force (WT) in the deformation of cartilage. Traditionally, WF/WT is calculated using complex experimental setups or time-consuming micromechanical poroelastic Finite Element (FE) simulations. ine and validate a fast and efficient technique to predict WF/WT using an analytical approach that can be applied without micromechanical detail or experimental measurement. ology astic FE simulations defined accurate values of WF/WT for a range of loading configurations and were used to validate subsequent predictions. The analytical prediction of WF/WT used elastic contact mechanics to calculate WF, and viscoelastic FE representation to calculate WT. Subsequently, these independent calculations of WF and WT provided values of WF/WT that were compared with the poroelastic FE calculations. s and discussion alytical prediction of WF/WT proved effective and suitably accurate (mean difference S<0.05). This technique demonstrated how WF and WT can be determined independently, without a biphasic constitutive model. Here we used viscoelasticity to calculate WT as an example, however, WT could be measured experimentally or predicted computationally.