Meeting Abstract
In this presentation we introduce a fully dynamic model to describe cyclical contraction of skeletal muscle as a 3D tissue using the finite element method (FEM). As a point to start, a quasi-static model was developed to answer some basic questions about the force output as a function of the length of fibres in muscles, their curvature and deformation during contraction. We considered three different tissues: muscle, tendon and aponeurosis. In addition to these tissues, we also considered a base material (or base component). This material captures the mechanical properties of other tissues and fluids within and surrounding the fibres. This previous model does not include velocity, acceleration and mass and so this features were implemented into the fully 3D dynamic model. Now this allows the work-loop behaviour to be determined for the whole muscle contractions.
