Mechanical characterization of brain tissue in tension at dynamic strain rates

TL;DR

This study developed a high rate tension device to measure brain tissue's dynamic tensile properties at strain rates up to 90/s, providing data crucial for improving brain injury models.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel high rate tension device and provides experimental data on brain tissue's tensile behavior at dynamic strain rates, which was previously limited.

Findings

Brain tissue becomes stiffer with increasing strain rates.

Tensile stress at 30% strain increases with strain rate.

Material parameters for hyperelastic models were derived.

Abstract

Mechanical characterization of brain tissue at high loading velocities is crucial for modeling Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). During severe impact conditions, brain tissue experiences compression, tension and shear. Limited experimental data is available for brain tissue in extension at dynamic strain rates. In this research, a High Rate Tension Device (HRTD) was developed to obtain dynamic properties of brain tissue in extension at strain rates of < 90/s. In vitro tensile tests were performed to obtain properties of brain tissue at strain rates of 30, 60 and 90/s up to 30% strain. The brain tissue showed a stiffer response with increasing strain rates, showing that hyperelastic models are not adequate. Specifically, the tensile engineering stress at 30% strain was 3.1 +/- 0.49 kPa, 4.3 +/- 0.86 kPa, 6.5 +/- 0.76 kPa (mean +/- SD) at strain rates of 30, 60 and 90/s, respectively. Force relaxation tests in tension were also conducted at different strain magnitudes (10-60% strain) with the average rise time of 24 ms, which were used to derive time dependent parameters. One-term Ogden, Fung and Gent models were used to obtain material parameters from the experimental data. Numerical simulations were performed using a one-term Ogden model to analyze hyperelastic behavior of brain tissue up to 30% strain. The material parameters obtained in this study will help to develop biofidelic human brain finite element models, which can subsequently be used to predict brain injuries under impact conditions and as a reconstruction and simulation tool for forensic investigations.