Computational Biomechanics: trends in modelling and simulation

The biomechanics of soft tissues is a multidisciplinary area of research which is nowadays the focus of new developments, bringing together researchers in medicine, engineering, physics and applied mathematics.
The aim of this lecture is to present an overview of the mechanics of soft tissues, focusing on continuum solid mechanics and computational perspectives. The essential ingredients of continuum mechanics are provided since they are the key in the modelling of soft
biological tissues.
A series of examples, mainly focused on arterial wall simulation and cardiac modelling, that present anisotropy, nonlinear elasticity, multi-physic and coupled phenomena will be shown. Through these examples, the importance of the implementation of the mechanical models and the use of an efficient HPC code will be highlighted.