Effect of Strain Rates on Failure of Mechanical Properties of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Under Flexion

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the strain‐rate‐dependent viscoelastic properties of the intervertebral disc by in vitro experiments. METHOD: The biomechanical experiments were conducted from September 2019 to December 2019. The lumbar spines of sheep were purchased within 4–6 hours from the local slaughterhouse, and the intervertebral disc samples were divided into three groups. In rupture group, the samples were used to test the mechanical behavior of the intervertebral disc rupture at different strain rates. In fatigue injury group, the samples were used to test the mechanical behavior of fatigue injury on the intervertebral disc under different strain rates. In internal displacement group, the samples were used to test the internal displacement distribution of the intervertebral disc at different strain rates by applying an optimized digital image correlation (DIC) technique. RESULTS: Both the yielding and cracking phenomenon occurs at fast and medium loading rates, while only the yielding phenomenon occurs at a slow loading rate. The yield stress, compressive strength, and elastic modulus all increase with the increase of the strain rate, while the yield strain decreases with the increase of the strain rate. The logarithm of the elastic modulus in the intervertebral disc is approximately linear with the logarithm of the strain rate under different strain rates. Both before and after fatigue loading, the stiffness in the loading and unloading curves of the intervertebral disc is inconsistent, forming a hysteresis loop, which is caused by the viscoelastic effect. The strain rate has no significant effect on the internal displacement distribution of the intervertebral disc. Based on the experimental data, the constitutive relationship of the intervertebral disc at different strain rates is obtained. The fitting curves are well coupled with the experimental data, while the fitting parameters are approximately linear with the logarithm of the strain rate. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments indicate that the strain rate has a significant effect on the mechanical behavior of the intervertebral disc rupture and fatigue injury, while the constitutive equation can predict the rate‐dependent mechanical behavior of lumbar intervertebral disc under flexion very well. These results have important theoretical guiding significance for preventing lumbar disc herniation in daily life.