BMEN8201

Tissues exist in dynamic mechanical environments where they must maintain a fine balance between applied loads and internal tension. Active adaptability of biological materials can significantly complicate measurement of their mechanical behavior. This course will cover fundamental continuum approaches for determining the complex stress states of actively responsive tissues as well as the force-feedback relationships that drive early development and allow mature tissues to maintain mechanical equilibrium.

Topics will include theoretical approaches for active force generation, soft tissue finite growth, extracellular matrix remodeling, and constrained mixtures.

These methods are applicable to a wide range of biomechanical systems. In this course, they will be applied to mechanics of two model systems: arterial growth and remodeling in hypertension and sheet folding in early organogenesis and morphogenesis.


prereq: 3011 or AEM 2021 or equiv