A continuum constitutive model for the active behaviour of skeletal muscle

Abstract In the present paper we propose a continuum constitutive model for the passive and active mechanical behaviour of skeletal muscle. Unlike most works in this field, the model is not based on an additive split between passive and active components but considers muscle tissue as one continuous biological material, which alters its properties when activated. This alteration also allows for a kinematic interpretation on the muscle fibre level and is described by a single activation-dependent model parameter. This as well as the other material parameters are obtained from standard experiments on resting and activated muscle or from microstructural information such as fibre type and twitch characteristics. In the passive state, the constitutive equations are governed by a transversely isotropic polyconvex and coercive strain-energy function. The model shows excellent agreement with experimental stress–stretch data of a passive and activated rat tibialis anterior muscle.

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