Affiliations: Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Mr. Bipin Kumar, Research Scholar, Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110 016, India. Tel.: +999 024 0340 (mobile); E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The efficacy of compression therapy using compression bandages is highly dependent on the level of compression applied and the sustenance of the pressure during the course of treatment. This study attempts to predict the pressure profile generated by compression bandages using constitutive equations describing relaxation behavior of viscoelastic materials. It is observed that this pressure profile is highly correlated with the stress relaxation behavior of the bandage. To model the pressure profile, the stress relaxation behavior of compression bandages was studied and modeled using three mechanical models: the Maxwell model, the standard linear solid model and the two-component Maxwell model with a nonlinear spring. It was observed that the models with more component values explained the experimental relaxation curves better. The parameters used for modelling relaxation behavior were used to describe the pressure profile, which is significantly dependent on the longitudinal stress relaxation behavior of the bandage, using the modified Laplace's law equation. This approach thus helps in evaluating the bandage performance with time during compression therapy as novel wound care management.
Keywords: Viscoelasticity, wound care, modeling, venous ulcers, mechanical models
DOI: 10.3233/BIR-2012-0601
Journal: Biorheology, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 1-13, 2012
