General Biomechanics

Lecture 6:
6 Tendons
Fibrous Biological Materials

Helicoidal

1
Unidirectional Fiber Composites

Stiff and strong fibers in a softer and weaker matrix provides
interesting combinations of stiffness, strength and toughness

To provide strengthening, there must be a minimum amount of fibers

The type and strength of bonding between the matrix and fibers is
extremely important

Interfaces must be strong enough to transmit stresses from fiber to

fiber

2
Tendon: Unidirectional Natural Composite

Tendons are highly specialized tissues
constructed to bear tensile forces only

Tendons are mainly made of aligned

collagen fibers
 Must be stiff
 Must be tough

Most common problems

 Lacerations (cut)
 Ruptures (tear)
 Tendinitis (inflammation)

3
Composition and Properties

4
Structure

5
Structure

6
Stresses in Tendons

7
Stress-Strain Curve

Molecular kinks Fibrils stretch and

straighten in the glide along each other
heel region in the linear region

Crimps straighten in the toe region

8
Stress-Strain Curve

For a long while, the properties off ttendons were assumed to be similar to
those of collagen!
Tensile testing on tendon Tensile testing on collagen fibril

9
Crimps in Tendons

10
Tendon Viscoelasticity

Both matrix shearing and fibril stret
retching are reversible process with little
dissipation (small hysteresis)

11
Fatigue in Tendons

Normal healthy individuals: 1 to 1.5
5 million strides per year

At 20 MPa a tendon should fail in about 3 months!

Schechtman H, Bader DL. In vitro fatigue of human tendons. Journal of Biomechanics, 1997.
12
Healing in Tendons

Healing continuously takes
place, at a rate of 1% of (failure)
damage repair per day

What would happen if the
tendon is cycled faster or at
higher stresses?

13