Mechanical properties of anterior malleolar ligament from experimental measurement and material modeling analysis

In this paper, mechanical properties of the anterior malleolar ligament (AML) of human middle ear were studied through the uniaxial tensile, stress relaxation and failure tests. The digital image correlation (DIC) method was used to assess the boundary effect in experiments and calculate the strain on specimens. The constitutive behavior of the AML was described by a transversely isotropic hyperelastic model which consists of a first-order Ogden model augmented by a I(4)-type reinforcing term. The material parameters of the model were estimated and the viscoelasticity of the AML was illustrated by hysteresis phenomena and stress relaxation function. The mechanical strength of the AML was obtained through the failure test and the mean ultimate stress and stretch ratio were measured as 1.05 MPa and 1.51, respectively. Finally, a linear Young's modulus-stress relationship of the AML was derived based on constitutive equation of the AML within a stress range of 0-0.5 MPa.