The effect of modeling cartilage on predicted ligament and contact forces at the knee

This paper describes a two-dimensional dynamic model of the human knee joint by employing cartilage model. The model outputs of rigid and deformable models are compared. The predicted tibio-femoral contact and ligament forces remain consistent whether or not a model of cartilage was included in the calculations. For both rigid and deformable contact models, the maximum contact force decreases as the amplitude of external force is increased. The effect of cartilage on ligaments’ responses is insignificant except for the behavior of the anterior portion of the anterior cruciate ligament at large flexion angles.