Fast Identification of Poroelastic Parameters from Indentation Tests

A novel approach is presented for the identification of constitutive parameters of linear poroelastic materials from indentation tests. Load-controlled spherical indentation with a ramp-hold creep profile is considered. The identification approach is based on the normalization of the time-displacement indentation response, in analogy to the well-known one-dimensional consolidation problem. The identification algorithm consists of two nested optimization routines, one in the time-displacement domain and the other in a normalized domain. The procedure is validated by identifying poroelastic parameters from the displacement-time outputs of finite element simulations; the new identification scheme proves both quantitatively reliable and fast. The procedure is also tested on the identification of the constitutive parameters of gelatin gel and bone from experimental indentation data and succeeds in providing quantitative results almost in real time.