Variability of the Viscoelastic Constants Along the Aortic Axis of the Dog

Abstract

The application of elastomeric theory to the study of the viscoelastic properties of the dog's aorta shows that the same value of the elastomeric parameter β may be used to describe the elastic behavior of aorta strips under both static and dynamic conditions. The variations in the parameter β and the damping fraction γ with the strip's location may be distinguished only for the extremes of the central arterial axis because of the wide variability of mechanical properties among dogs. The viscoelastic properties apparently do not correlate with the measured geometric properties of the unstressed aortic strip.