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In this contribution, we propose a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient corresponding to the imagined procedure that Eshelby (Proc R Soc Ser A 241:376–396, 1957) used to investigate the theory of inclusions in the case of infinitesimal deformations. The proposed multiplicative decomposition is inspired by classical multiplicative decompositions reported in the literature and encompasses, as particular cases, other decompositions proposed for Eshelby’s inclusion problem. The linearisation of the proposed multiplicative decomposition coincides with the additive decomposition of the infinitesimal strain in Eshelby’s original procedure.

In hypoelastic constitutive models, an objective stress rate is related to the rate of deformation through an elasticity tensor. The Truesdell, Jaumann, and Green–Naghdi rates of the Cauchy and Kirchhoff stress tensors are examples of the objective stress rates. The finite element analysis software ABAQUS uses a co-rotational frame which is based on the Jaumann rate for solid elements and on the Green–Naghdi rate for shell and membrane elements. The user subroutine UMAT is the platform to implement a general constitutive model into ABAQUS, but, in order to update the Jacobian matrix in UMAT, the model must be expressed in terms of the Jaumann rate of the Kirchhoff stress tensor. This study aims to formulate and implement various hypoelastic constitutive models into the ABAQUS UMAT subroutine. The developed UMAT subroutine codes are validated using available solutions, and the consequence of using wrong Jacobian matrices is elucidated. The UMAT subroutine codes are provided in the “Electronic Supplementary Material” repository for the user’s consideration.

For composites or biological tissues reinforced by statistically oriented fibres, a probability distribution function is often used to describe the orientation of the fibres. The overall effect of the fibres on the material response is accounted for by evaluating averaging integrals over all possible directions in space. The directional average of the structure tensor (tensor product of the unit vector describing the fibre direction by itself) is of high significance. Higher-order averaged structure tensors feature in several models and carry similarly important information. However, their evaluation has a quite high computational cost. This work proposes to introduce mathematical techniques to minimise the computational cost associated with the evaluation of higher-order averaged structure tensors, for the case of a transversely isotropic probability distribution of orientation. A component expression is first introduced, using which a general tensor expression is obtained, in terms of an orthonormal basis in which one of the vectors coincides with the axis of symmetry of transverse isotropy. Then, a higher-order transversely isotropic averaged structure tensor is written in an appropriate basis, constructed starting from the basis of the space of second-order transversely isotropic tensors, which is constituted by the structure tensor and its complement to the identity.

The elasticity tensor providing the power-conjugation of the Green-Naghdi rate of the Kirchhoff stress and the deformation rate is required, e.g. by the commercially available Finite Element package ABAQUS/Standard for the material user subroutine UMAT, used to input material behaviours other than those included in the libraries of the package. This elasticity tensor had been studied in the literature, but its symmetries have only been briefly discussed, and only its component form in Cartesian coordinates was known. In this work, we derived a covariant, component-free expression of this elasticity tensor and thoroughly studied its symmetries. We found that, although symmetry on both pair of feet (indices) has been deemed to be desirable in the literature, the expression of the tensor available to-date in fact possesses only symmetry on the first pair of feet (indices), whereas the second pair lacks symmetry, and therefore carries a skew-symmetric contribution. This contribution is unnecessary, as it is automatically filtered in the contraction of the elasticity tensor with the symmetric deformation rate tensor. In order to avoid carrying this unnecessary skew-symmetric contribution in the computations, we employ a tensor identity that naturally symmetrises the second pair of feet of the elasticity tensor. We demonstrated the validity and robustness of the implementation of the user-defined material based on this tensor representation by simulating a benchmark problem consisting in biaxial tests of porcine and human atrial tissue, with material properties taken from previously performed experiments. We compared the results obtained by means of our user-defined material and those obtained through an equivalent built-in material, and obtained identical results.

The distribution of collagen fibers across articular cartilage layers is statistical in nature. Based on the concepts proposed in previous models, we developed a methodology to include the statistically distributed fibers across the cartilage thickness in the commercial FE software COMSOL which avoids extensive routine programming. The model includes many properties that are observed in real cartilage: finite hyperelastic deformation, depth-dependent collagen fiber concentration, depth- and deformation-dependent permeability, and statistically distributed collagen fiber orientation distribution across the cartilage thickness. Numerical tests were performed using confined and unconfined compressions. The model predictions on the depth-dependent strain distributions across the cartilage layer are consistent with the experimental data in the literature.