Chondrocyte deformation measured as change in cell height in the chondron at two growth plate locations (central and peripheral) for a prescribed displacement corresponding to an overall axial sample compressive strain of 20%.

To explore the sensitivity of the cellular strain results to assumed values for the material properties of the reserve zone, a major component of the growth plate, we decreased the reserve zone Young's modulus from 0.98 MPa to 0.42 MPa, an almost 60% decrease. Every other parameter was kept the same as in the original analysis the results of which are shown (circles) along with those for the reduced modulus (squares). This resulted in a relative change in average chondrocyte height strain in the central region (P4) of 7.44% and in the peripheral region (P3) of 9.3%. We may therefore assume that the results are not very sensitive to the assumed values at the mesoscale.
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