The use of isolated human tendons as well as in associated forms on knee reconstrution has become na usual practice. The literature reveals that the use of implants of patellar tendon as well as the double semitendinous tendon associated to the double gracilis tendon exhibits different post surgical evolution related to the minimal extension loss, anterior-posterior displacement (KT-1000 artrometer), as well as to the sport activities. This research work aim to analyze the mechanical behavior of human tendons (gracilis and semitendinous) subject to uniaxial traction to failure. The mechanical parameters considered includes: stress at failure (MPa), strain energy at failure (N.mm) and strain rate (mm/mm). Results induced to the following conclusions: - tendon of semitendinous muscle is more resistent than the tendon gracilis muscle; exhibits lower strain, stores higher level of strain energy at failure. - as they present distinct mechanical behavior, it would be necessary to acomplish a more detaield analysis to face the time and history dependence wich are the basic characteristics of viscoelastic materials.
