Finite Element Formulation of a Biphasic Poroviscoelastic Model for Articular Cartilage

Abstract Articular cartilage, a composite mixture of extracellular matrix and interstitial fluid, manifests viscoelastic characteristics, partly due to the frictional interaction between the porous matrix substrate and the interstitial fluid and partly due to the intrinsic viscoelastic behavior of proteoglycan gel of cartilage. The biphasic poroviscoelastic model (BPVE) has been used to predict the 1-D deformational behavior of articular cartilage [1,2]. In this study, we developed a finite element formulation of the poroviscoelastic model to investigate the mechanical response of articular cartilage under confined compression.