Micromechanical Model of a Collagen Based Tendon Surrogate: Development and Validation

In tendons and ligaments, collagen is organized hierarchically into nanoscale fibrils, microscale fibers and mesoscale fascicles. Force transfer across scales is complex and poorly understood, and macroscale strains are not representative of the microscale strains [1]. Since innervation, the vasculature, damage mechanisms and mechanotransduction occur at the microscale, understanding such multiscale interactions is of high importance. In this study, a physical model was used in combination with a computational model to isolate and study the mechanisms of force transfer between scales. The objectives of this study were to develop a collagen based tendon surrogate for use as a physical model and subject it to tensile loading, and to create and validate a 3D micromechanical finite element (FE) model of the surrogate.