Characterization of time-dependent and history-dependent mechanical behaviour of human masseter muscle

Abstract

The human masseter muscle is one of the primary muscles responsible for mastication and mandibular movement; however, its intrinsic mechanical properties remain insufficiently characterized. In this experimental study, the nonlinear, viscoelastic, and history-dependent behaviour of the human masseter muscle was investigated using ex vivo uniaxial cyclic tensile tests. The masseter muscle samples prepared from fresh and formalin-preserved cadavers were tested under two loading protocols: a continuous stretch protocol with increasing stretch levels and a constant stretch protocol with repeated loading to a fixed maximum stretch. Tests were conducted at two strain rates, and their influences on the mechanical behaviour of the tissue were examined. The effect of formalin preservation was also investigated. The results showed that the stiffness of the tissue increases for formalin-preserved samples. Under cyclic loading, the features including energy dissipation, stress-softening, residual deformation, and cyclic conditioning progressively changed during the initial loading cycles and reached stabilization during the final cycle. These findings provide experimental evidence that the human masseter muscle exhibits nonlinear, viscoelastic, and history-dependent mechanical behaviour under cyclic tensile loading. The experimental data obtained in this study may be used for biomechanical modelling of the human masticatory system and the development of constitutive models for cranio-maxillofacial surgical simulation, prosthetic design, and facial soft-tissue biomechanics. Statement of significanceThe masseter muscle is one of the primary muscles of mastication. To address the current gap in craniofacial biomechanics that has largely focused on the mechanical characterization of the masseter muscle based on imaging techniques or monotonic loading, this study quantifies the nonlinear and viscoelastic mechanical response of masseter tissue under cyclic continuous and constant stretch loading, including strain-rate and preservation effects. The results show that the mechanical behaviour of the masseter muscle, including stiffness, hysteresis, stress-softening, and residual strain behaviour, is strongly influenced by strain-rate and formalin preservation. The experimental results provide mechanical data for constitutive modelling of the masticatory system with applications in cranio-maxillofacial surgical simulation, prosthetic design, and facial soft tissue modelling.