Contact: Prof. L.J. Bonassar lb244@cornell.edu

Phone: 255-9381

Office: 218 Upson Hall

Mechanical Analysis of Cartilage Bending

The ear is one of the few organs in the body that can withstand large deformations in bending. One of the major challenges in developing materials for replacement of tissues in the ear lost to trauma or congenital defects is the identification of materials that are both suitably stiff and flexible. This project is aimed at understanding the bending properties of ear cartilage to more accurately specify design criteria for tissue replacements.

Our previous work has demonstrated that the properties of cartilage in three point bending are non-linear. The goal of the current project is to develop models that account for this non-linearity. In particular, these models will incorporate the known non-linearities in cartilage mechanics, most notably the difference in tensile and compressive moduli (E_t/E_c ~ 20-50). Both FE models and experiments will examine the effect of independent alterations of tensile and compressive moduli on bending behavior of the tissue.

Students interested in this project should have a strong background in solid mechanics, experience in FE modeling, and familiarity with experimental methods in mechanical testing. This project will include development of non-linear FE models of cartilage bending, design and fabrication of grips and devices for testing of ear cartilage in three or 4 point bending, execution of bending experiments, and acquisition and analysis of cartilage bending data.