Stress, Strain, and Stability of Organs

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss the stress and strain in organs. The significance of the subject is established, the methods of approach are summarized, highlights on a few organs are surveyed, and then we focus on some topics which are important from the point of view of mechanics, such as the zero-stress state, the connection between micro- and macromechanics, the effect of surface tension, the incremental laws, the interaction between neighboring organs, the stability of some structures, and the behavior of some structures that become unstable and collapsed.