A Three-Dimensional Cell Model Based On Finite Element Method And Its Mechanical Analysis

The primary aim of biomechanics is to explore the relationship between the mechanical properties and functions of living tissues, while cell mechanics is to study such relationship at the cellular and subcellular level. In order to do so, we not only depend on experimental technology of cell mechanics, but also on development of cell modeling. Continuum mechanics modeling has already widely used with certain success at tissue level, but much less at cellular level, especially for single cell modeling. In this thesis, a three-dimensional single cell model has been built using finite element method on the computation platform of Abaqus 6.7 Software. This work includes three parts. They are: 1) a cell model with a cytoplasm and a nucleus that are both viscoelastic, and a cell membrane that is elastic was built. The cell model was subjected to shear stress on the surface and the deformation of the cell model was analyzed; 2) while both shear stress and pressure were applied on the surface of the cell, the stress distribution inside the cell was obtained and analyzed. 3) while the prestress was present within the intracellular structure, the stress distribution in the cell model was obtained and analyzed. Compared with an elastic cell model, it was found that mechanical function of the cell model with viscoelastic components was strongly influenced by the existence of viscoelasticity in the cell.The advantage of the proposed three layers viscoelastic cell model is that it has the ability to find the deformations and stresses of the cell membrane,cytoplasm and nucleus, respectively. The conducted work may be helpful to understand the reason of the response of cell to external force.