Human abdominal aortic tissue is a complex cylindrical soft sandwich structure, arranged in three different concentric layers. Within these layers, distribution and arrangement of all components display a double-helix architecture of wavy fibres, characterised by distinctive preferred orientations. The macroscopic mechanical behaviour of human healthy abdominal aorta (AA) and aneurysmal (AAA) tissues is highly non-linear, anisotropic and essentially hyperelastic. The global objective of this work is to design and process new artificial hy- perelastic and anisotropic membranes mimicking the macroscopic histological and mechanical features of AA and AAA tissues. These materials will be then used to build more realistic phantoms of AAA for in vitro experiments. The aim of the present study is (i) to develop a theoretical framework able to predict the optimal microstructure and mechanical behaviour of such AA/AAA analogues, and (ii) to provide experimental validation of micro-mechanical modelling.
