Abstract:Objective To study the mechanical properties of the anisotropic of pig trachea and bronchi, and determine the constitutive model of trachea deformation by finite element numerical simulation. Methods Collect the pig trachea and cut through in their axial directions and expanded into two-dimensional planes. Then, by setting the length direction of the trachea aortas as 0°, each planar trachea was counterclockwise cut into 6 samples with orientation of 30°,60°,90°,120°,150°, and 180°, respectively. The electronic universal testing machine was used to perform uniaxial tensile tests at a loading rate of 10mm/min in 6 angular directions of the isolated trachea and bronchi of adult pigs. The elastic modulus and ultimate stress of the trachea and the bronchi in different directions were obtained, and the Mooney-Rivilin hyperelastic model was used to perform nonlinear fitting to the experimental data. Using the obtained Mooney-Rivilin model material characteristic parameters, finite element models of trachea and main trachea were established and tensile numerical simulation was carried out. Results Samples at different angles show different stress-strain curves. In the trachea, 30°, 120° and 150° are in the range of 1-1.5MPa, 60° and 90° are in the range of 0.5-1MPa, and 180° is in the range of 2.5-3.0MPa; In the main air pipe, 30°, 60° and 150° are in the range of 0.8-1MPa, 90° and 180° are in the range of 1.4-1.8MPa, and 120° is in the range of 0.4-0.6 MPa. There is a clear difference between the trachea and the bronchi. The finite element simulation verifies that the Mooney-Rivilin constitutive model is suitable for describing the small deformation behavior of the trachea. Conclusions The experimental results show that the pig trachea exhibits strong anisotropy, the research results provide a more reliable and comprehensive parameters of tracheal mechanical parameters, and afford favorable data support for the construction of tracheal finite element and constitutive models. Meanwhile, the experimental results verify that the Mooney-Rivilin model can replace small tracheal deformations, and provide the necessary data for the research on trachea contact mechanics characteristics.