A constitutive modeling of the human lumbar intervertebral disc and forward-backward bending simulation

This paper presents a constitutive law of the lumbar intervertebral disc to be described mathematically with the finite deformation theory. Mechanical behavior of the cadaveric lumbar disc obtained from continuous cyclic compression-tension tests and continuous cyclic axial torsion tests was formulated by the constitutive equation with a semi-circular shaped model. These equations were formulated with or without taking the nucleus pulposus into account. It was also confirmed that forward-backward bending behavior of the disc could be simulated numerically from these equations.