Residual stresses in soft tissue as a consequence of growth and remodeling: application to an arterial geometry

We develop a thermodynamically consistent model for growth and remodeling in elastic arteries. The model is specialized to a cylindrical geometry, strain energy of the Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden type and remodeling of the collagen fiber angle. A numerical method for calculating the evolution of the adaptation process is developed. For a particular choice of the thermodynamic forces of growth and remodeling (configurational forces), it is shown that an almost homogeneous transmural axial and tangential stress distribution is obtained. Residual stresses develop during this adaption process and these resemble what is found in experiments and by parameter identification methods. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.