The mechanical properties of a pig’s skin as a human skin substitute in the studies carried out in vitro are used in surgery and engineering design. The investigation included the uniaxial tensile test and cyclic loading-unloading tests of a swine skin. The values of dissipated energy and energy dissipation ratio for first, fifth and tenth hysteresis loop of every examined sample were obtained. In the investigation, the skin anisotropy was taken into consideration. The estimation of the influence of various levels of load on the values of the measured parameters was also made.

The mechanical properties of a pig’s skin as a human skin substitute in the studies carried out in vitro are used in surgery and engineering design. The investigation included the uniaxial tensile test and cyclic loading-unloading tests of a swine skin. The values of dissipated energy and energy dissipation ratio for first, fifth and tenth hysteresis loop of every examined sample were obtained. In the investigation, the skin anisotropy was taken into consideration. The estimation of the influence of various levels of load on the values of the measured parameters was also made.