A porous media formulation for the analysis of the functional response of the PDL

A constitutive model based on a multi-phase media approach is developed to investigate the biomechanical response of the periodontal ligament. The assumption of multi-phase scheme is particularly suitable to describe the coupling and the interaction between solid and fluid, which is typical of biological soft tissues. It is assumed that the movement of liquid components of the PDL (water, lymph etc., blood vessels) through its porous structure is the reason for the timedependent behaviour found both in experimental tests. A bi-phase and fully saturated model with linear and nonlinear stress-strain relationships for the solid skeleton is adopted. The constitutive model is implemented in a specific finite element software, adopting a mixed u-p (displacementspressure) formulation. Numerical analysis of the response of human central incisor under the application of transversal forces is presented. Results are compared with experimental data.