Influence of the Number of Chondrocytes in Lacunae on Micromechanical Behaviors in Cartilage Defect Repair Area under Cyclic Compression

COMSOL finite element software was used to establish a solid-liquid coupling biphasic model of articular cartilage and microscopic models of chondrocytes. The micromechanical behaviors of chondrocytes were studied under cyclic loading at different frequencies. The results showed that the number of chondrocytes in the deep layer cartilage lacunae affected the micromechanical behaviors of chondrocytes, the maximum stress of chondrocytes (3 chondrocytes in the same lacunae) were larger than those of chondrocytes (2 chondrocytes in the same lacunae). After repair defect, the maximum stress of chondrocytes under low frequency loading (0.1Hz) was higher than those of chondrocytes under high frequency loading (0.5Hz). The Mises stress of pericellular matrix (PCM) in intact cartilage was 4.7-6.4 times that of chondrocytes. The study of the micromechanical behaviors of chondrocytes by finite element numerical simulation will has a certain guiding significance for the study of the mechanism of biomechanics on chondrocytes.