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The time-dependent mechanical properties of skin
The Journal of Investigative Dermatology
|September 1, 1977
Summary
Skin exhibits nonlinear and time-dependent mechanical properties under torsional stress. Continuous relaxation spectra accurately describe stress relaxation and predict dynamic responses, revealing frequency-independent phase angles below 1 Hz.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Dermatology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Understanding skin's mechanical properties is crucial for dermatology and biomechanical applications.
- Previous studies have explored skin's viscoelasticity, but a unified description of its dynamic and time-dependent behavior remains challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanical properties of skin under torsional deformation.
- To develop a self-consistent model describing skin's nonlinear and time-dependent behavior.
- To correlate stress relaxation data with dynamic responses.
Main Methods:
- Applying torsional deformation to a circumscribed area of skin.
- Analyzing the dynamic response, including phase angle and peak torque amplitude across different frequencies.
- Utilizing continuous relaxation spectra for data description and prediction.
Main Results:
- Skin demonstrates nonlinear and time-dependent mechanical properties.
- The phase angle was found to be insensitive to frequency below 1 Hz.
- Peak torque amplitude increased slowly above 0.004 Hz.
- Continuous relaxation spectra provided a self-consistent description of stress relaxation data.
Conclusions:
- The developed technique using continuous relaxation spectra effectively describes skin's mechanical behavior.
- This approach accurately predicts the dynamic response of skin based on stress relaxation data.
- The findings offer a more comprehensive understanding of skin's viscoelasticity.