Osteoarthritis OA (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease characterized by joint pain and stiffness, which predisposes to the elderly. The onset of OA is slow, the course of disease is long, and the early clinical manifestations and histological changes are not obvious, which limits the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease. It has been proved that the micro-structure of articular cartilage determines the macro-mechanical properties of cartilage. The micro-structure of articular cartilage change in a depth-dependent manner, which leads to the depth dependence of the mechanical properties of cartilage. From superficial to deep areas of cartilage, the anti-load and anti-deformation ability of cartilage increases gradually. However, during the development of OA, the change of cartilage micro-structure leads to the decrease of load resistance and deformation resistance of OA cartilage. Therefore, the mechanical properties of articular cartilage can be inferred by detecting the micro-structure of articular cartilage. On the contrary, the mechanical properties of articular cartilage can be used to understand the Micro-changes of cartilage, which is helpful to understand the development of OA and facilitate the early diagnosis of disease. This paper reviews the recent research literature on the mechanical properties of articular cartilage under normal and acute and chronic injuries, and elaborates the relationship between the structure and mechanical properties of articular cartilage, which provides further theoretical basis for the development of OA, early diagnosis and treatment.