Experimental and numerical investigation of a degradable collagen foil

A collagen foil, which plays an important role for cultivating and investigating tendon cells, is investigated experimentally and numerically: The foil, which should later serve as a scaffold for tendon cells in a custom made bioreactor, is stimulated periodically in an in situ experiment. Additionally, a material model to describe the anisotropic structure and the relaxation behaviour of the collagen foil is used to simulate the material response. By comparing the measurements and simulations, the stress and strain states in the foil can be determined. Hence, the material parameters for the presented experimental set up are identified. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)