Continuum description of the Poisson's ratio of ligament and tendon under finite deformation.

Ligaments and tendons undergo volume loss when stretched along the primary fiber axis, which is evident by the large, strain-dependent Poisson's ratios measured during quasi-static tensile tests. Continuum constitutive models that have been used to describe ligament material behavior generally assume incompressibility, which does not reflect the volumetric material behavior seen experimentally. We developed a strain energy equation that describes large, strain dependent Poisson's ratios and nonlinear, transversely isotropic behavior using a novel method to numerically enforce the desired volumetric behavior.