CAREER: Theoretical and Numerical Investigation of Stress-Regulated Growth and Remodeling of Soft Tissues

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Living organs respond to mechanical load not only by deformation, but also by growth, resorption and structural remodeling. While the elasticity of soft tissues is relatively well-studied, the interaction between mechanical factors and adaptive growth remains poorly understood. The goal of the project is to gain understanding of coupled stress-growth motion through (1) developing and evaluating biomechanics models for stress-regulated growth and remodeling in vascular system; (2) developing finite element formulations for the simulation of coupled stress-growth motion; and (3) investigating the mechanical aspect of aneurysm growth and remodeling. The research will bring new dimensions into the biomechanical analysis of soft tissues. A better understanding of tissue adaptive behavior and the relation to physiological functions is expected to be obtained out of this research. The project plans to incorporate the research results into classroom teaching by introducing new teaching modules for continuum mechanics, computational mechanics and vascular mechanics courses. It also offers educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to work on leading edge research projects.