Objective To study the compression properties of articular cartilage and polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel (PVA-H) as artificial cartilage. Methods Unconfined compression tests were conducted on articular cartilage and PVA-H, including stress-strain tests, creep tests and stress relaxation tests. The stress-strain relationship of articular cartilage and PVA-H were measured. Results The compression modulus of articular cartilage was higher than that of PVA hydrogel.The average compression modulus of articular cartilage and PVA hydrogel was (3.6492±0.6199) Mpa and (1.5951±0.1469) Mpa, respectively.