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Engineering LibreTexts

23: Elasticity in Biological Materials

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https://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/

Learning Objectives

On completion of this TLP you should:

  • Appreciate that many materials in living systems do not show Hookean elasticity.
  • Understand the concept of J-curves and be familiar with examples of biomaterials that show this behaviour, in particular arterial wall.
  • Understand how aneurysms arise in hardened arteries.
  • Appreciate that some biomaterials, for example hair and spiders' silk, exhibit hysteresis, and understand how this can be essential to their performance and applications.

Before you start

Before beginning this TLP, you should understand the elasticity of rubber, including the concept of an entropy spring. Take a look at The Stiffness of Rubber TLP.

You should also be aware of how a tensile test is carried out. Take a look at the Introduction to Mechanical Testing TLP.


This page titled 23: Elasticity in Biological Materials is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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