Hyperelastic structures: A review on the mechanics and biomechanics

Soft structures are capable of undergoing reversible large strains and deformations when facing different types of loadings. Due to the limitations of linear elastic models, researchers have developed and employed different nonlinear elastic models capable of accurately modelling large deformations and strains. These models are significantly different in formulation and application. As hyperelastic strain energy density models provide researchers with a good fit for the mechanical behaviour of biological tissues, research studies on using these constitutive models together with different continuum-mechanics-based formulations have reached notable outcomes. With the improvements in biomechanical devices, in-vivo and in-vitro studies have increased significantly in the past few years which emphasises the importance of reviewing the latest works in this field. Besides, since soft structures are used for different mechanical and biomechanical applications such as prosthetics, soft robots, packaging, and wearing devices, the application of a proper hyperelastic strain energy density law in modelling the structure is of high importance. Therefore, in this review, a detailed classified analysis of the mechanics of hyperelastic structures is presented by focusing on the application of different hyperelastic strain energy density models. Previous studies on biological soft parts of the body (brain, artery, cartilage, liver, skeletal muscle, ligament, skin, tongue, heel pad and adipose tissue) are presented in detail and the hyperelastic strain energy models used for each biological tissue is discussed. Besides, the mechanics (deformation, buckling, inflation, etc.) of polymeric structures in different mechanical conditions is presented using previous studies in this field and the strength of hyperelastic strain energy density models in analysing their mechanics is presented.