Dynamic Tensile Response of Porcine Muscle

The stress-strain response of a porcine muscle along and perpendicular to the muscle fiber direction was characterized over a wide range of strain rates under uniaxial tension. A modified Kolsky tension bar was used to conduct the experiments at high strain rates. Tubular specimen geometry was used to achieve uniform loading within the specimen and to minimize lateral inertia effect. Loading pulse was controlled to facilitate constant strain rates and dynamic stress equilibrium. Quasi-static experiments were also performed to explore the rate effects over a wider range of strain rates. The results show that the nonlinear tensile stress-strain responses in both directions along and perpendicular to the fibers are highly sensitive to strain rates. Compared with high-rate compression response, the strain rate sensitivity in the tensile test is less dependent on the fiber orientation to the loading direction.