Mechanical asymmetry during articulation of tibial and femoral cartilages: Local and overall compressive and shear deformation and properties

During knee movement, femoral cartilage articulates against cartilage from the tibial plateau, and the resulting mechanical behavior is yet to be fully characterized. The objectives of this study were to determine (1) the overall and depth-varying axial and shear strains and (2) the associated moduli, of femoral and tibial cartilages during the compression and shearing of apposing tibial and femoral samples. Osteochondral blocks from human femoral condyles (FCs) characterized as normal and donor-matched lateral tibial plateau (TP) were apposed, compressed 13%, and subjected to relative lateral motion. When surfaces began to slide, axial (−Ezz) and shear (Exz) strains and compressive (E) and shear (G) moduli, overall and as a function of depth, were determined for femoral and tibial cartilages. Tibial −Ezz was ∼2-fold greater than FC −Ezz near the surface (0.38 versus 0.22) and overall (0.16 versus 0.07). Near the surface, Exz of TP was 8-fold higher than that of FC (0.41 versus 0.05), while overall Exz was 4-fold higher (0.09 versus 0.02). For TP and FC, −Ezz and Exz were greatest near the surface and decreased monotonically with depth. E for FC was 1.7-fold greater than TP, both near the surface (0.40 versus 0.24 MPa) and overall (0.76 versus 0.47 MPa). Similarly, G was 7-fold greater for FC (0.22 MPa) than TP near the surface (0.03 MPa) and 3-fold higher for FC (0.38 MPa) than TP (0.13 MPa) overall. These results indicate that tibial cartilage deforms and strains more axially and in shear than the apposing femoral cartilage during tibial–femoral articulation, reflecting their respective moduli.