Understanding the physiological behaviour of arteries in the radial direction is crucial for establishing a reference point to detect and analyse pathological changes. In this study, the influence of the radial component of the aorta will be investigated by performing experimental tests on porcine aortic tissue in the three main directions of the aorta:​ circumferential, longitudinal and radial. The results obtained in all directions will be analysed and compared in order to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the healthy behaviour of the vessel.

Our results demonstrate that the aorta exhibits nonlinear behaviour under compression and tensile loading in the radial direction. Moreover, tissue stiffening progresses more prominently under compression compared to tensile loading. We have found that the tensile stiffness in the ATA is higher compared to the other two regions examined. The Neo-Hookean and Demiray models were selected to describe the isotropic contribution when fitting the uniaxial response of the circumferential and longitudinal samples using the GOH model. Neo-Hookean model fall short (R²=0.235) in accurately replicating the observed behaviour of the aorta in the radial direction and Demiray model showing better fitting results (R²=0.994).