scholarly journals Effect of Passive Support of the Spinal Muscles on the Biomechanics of a Lumbar Finite Element Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6278
Author(s):  
Inhan Kang ◽  
Minwook Choi ◽  
Deukhee Lee ◽  
Gunwoo Noh

Finite element (FE) modeling of the passive ligamentous spine is widely used to assess various biomechanical behaviors. Currently, FE models that incorporate the vertebrae, ligaments, and the personalized geometry of the bony spine may be used in conjunction with external loads from the muscles. However, while the muscles place a load (moment) on the spine and support it simultaneously, the effect of the passive support from the adjacent spinal muscles has not been considered. This study thus aims to investigate the effect of passive support from the psoas major, quadratus lumborum, and erector muscles on the range of motion (RoM) and intradiscal pressure (IDP) of the lumbar spine. Various L2-sacrum spinal models that differed only in their muscle properties were constructed and loaded with a pure moment (2.5–15.0 Nm) alone or combined with a compressive (440 or 1000 N) follower load. The RoM and IDP of the model that excluded the effect of muscles closely matched previous FE results under the corresponding load conditions. When the muscles (40–160 kPa) were included in the FE model, the RoM at L2 was reduced by up to 6.57% under a pure moment (10 Nm). The IDP was reduced by up to 6.45% under flexion and 6.84% under extension. It was also found that the erector muscles had a greater effect than the psoas major and quadratus muscles.

Author(s):  
Ashwini Gautam ◽  
Chris Fuller ◽  
James Carneal

This work presents an extensive analysis of the properties of distributed vibration absorbers (DVAs) and their effectiveness in controlling the sound radiation from the base structure. The DVA acts as a distributed mass absorber consisting of a thin metal sheet covering a layer of acoustic foam (porous media) that behaves like a distributed spring-mass-damper system. To assess the effectiveness of these DVAs in controlling the vibration of the base structures (plate) a detailed finite elements model has been developed for the DVA and base plate structure. The foam was modeled as a poroelastic media using 8 node hexahedral elements. The structural (plate) domain was modeled using 16 degree of freedom plate elements. Each of the finite element models have been validated by comparing the numerical results with the available analytical and experimental results. These component models were combined to model the DVA. Preliminary experiments conducted on the DVAs have shown an excellent agreement between the results obtained from the numerical model of the DVA and from the experiments. The component models and the DVA model were then combined into a larger FE model comprised of a base plate with the DVA treatment on its surface. The results from the simulation of this numerical model have shown that there has been a significant reduction in the vibration levels of the base plate due to DVA treatment on it. It has been shown from this work that the inclusion of the DVAs on the base plate reduces their vibration response and therefore the radiated noise. Moreover, the detailed development of the finite element model for the foam has provided us with the capability to analyze the physics behind the behavior of the distributed vibration absorbers (DVAs) and to develop more optimized designs for the same.


2013 ◽  
Vol 456 ◽  
pp. 576-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Fu Xu ◽  
Na Ta ◽  
Zhu Shi Rao ◽  
Jia Bin Tian

A 2-D finite element model of human cochlea is established in this paper. This model includes the structure of oval window, round window, basilar membrane and cochlear duct which is filled with fluid. The basilar membrane responses are calculated with sound input on the oval window membrane. In order to study the effects of helicotrema on basilar membrane response, three different helicotrema dimensions are set up in the FE model. A two-way fluid-structure interaction numerical method is used to compute the responses in the cochlea. The influence of the helicotrema is acquired and the frequency selectivity of the basilar membrane motion along the cochlear duct is predicted. These results agree with the experiments and indicate much better results are obtained with appropriate helicotrema size.


Author(s):  
J. Rodriguez ◽  
M. Him

Abstract This paper presents a finite element mesh generation algorithm (PREPAT) designed to automatically discretize two-dimensional domains. The mesh generation algorithm is a mapping scheme which creates a uniform isoparametric FE model based on a pre-partitioned domain of the component. The proposed algorithm provides a faster and more accurate tool in the pre-processing phase of a Finite Element Analysis (FEA). A primary goal of the developed mesh generator is to create a finite element model requiring only essential input from the analyst. As a result, the generator code utilizes only a sketch, based on geometric primitives, and information relating to loading/boundary conditions. These conditions represents the constraints that are propagated throughout the model and the available finite elements are uniformly mapped in the resulting sub-domains. Relative advantages and limitations of the mesh generator are discussed. Examples are presented to illustrate the accuracy, efficiency and applicability of PREPAT.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashique Iftekhar Rousseau ◽  
Abdel-Hakim Bouzid ◽  
Zijian Zhao

Abstract The axial stiffnesses of the bolt and clamped members of bolted joints are of great importance when considering their integrity and capacity to withstand external loads and resist relaxation due to creep. There are many techniques to calculate the stiffnesses of the joint elements using finite element (FE) modeling, but most of them are based on the displacement of nodes that are selected arbitrarily; therefore, leading to inaccurate values of joint stiffness. This work suggests a new method to estimate the stiffnesses of the bolt and clamped members using FE analysis and compares the results with the FE methods developed earlier and also with the existing analytical models. A new methodology including an axisymmetric finite element model of the bolted joint is proposed in which the bolts of different sizes ranging from M6 to M36 are considered for the analysis to generalize the proposed approach. The equivalent bolt length that includes the contribution of the thickness of the bolt head and the bolt nominal diameter to the bolt stiffness is carefully investigated. An equivalent bolt length that accounts for the flexibility of the bolt head is proposed in the calculation of the bolt stiffness and a new technique to accurately determine the stiffness of clamped members are detailed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1026-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Basshofi Habieb ◽  
Gabriele Milani ◽  
Tavio Tavio ◽  
Federico Milani

Introduction:An advanced Finite Element model is presented to examine the performance of a low-cost friction based-isolation system in reducing the seismic vulnerability of low-class rural housings. This study, which is mainly numerical, adopts as benchmark an experimental investigation on a single story masonry system eventually isolated at the base and tested on a shaking table in India.Methods:Four friction isolation interfaces, namely, marble-marble, marble-high-density polyethylene, marble-rubber sheet, and marble-geosynthetic were involved. Those interfaces differ for the friction coefficient, which was experimentally obtained through the aforementioned research. The FE model adopted here is based on a macroscopic approach for masonry, which is assumed as an isotropic material exhibiting damage and softening. The Concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model, that is available in standard package of ABAQUS finite element software, is used to determine the non-linear behavior of the house under non-linear dynamic excitation.Results and Conclusion:The results of FE analyses show that the utilization of friction isolation systems could much decrease the acceleration response at roof level, with a very good agreement with the experimental data. It is also found that systems with marble-marble and marble-geosynthetic interfaces reduce the roof acceleration up to 50% comparing to the system without isolation. Another interesting result is that there was little damage appearing in systems with frictional isolation during numerical simulations. Meanwhile, a severe state of damage was clearly visible for the system without isolation.


Author(s):  
Sadegh Naserkhaki ◽  
Jacob L. Jaremko ◽  
Greg Kawchuk ◽  
Samer Adeeb ◽  
Marwan El-Rich

The spinal load sharing and mechanical stresses developed in the spine segments due to mechanical loads are dependent on the unique spinal anatomy (geometry and posture). Variation in spinal curvature alters the load sharing of the lumbar spine as well as the stiffness and stability of the passive tissues. In this paper, effects of lumbar spine curvature variation on spinal load sharing under compressive Follower Load (FL) are investigated numerically. 3D nonlinear Finite Element (FE) models of three ligamentous lumbosacral spines are developed based on personalized geometries; hypo-lordotic (Hypo-L), normal (Normal-L) and hyper-lordotic (Hyper-L) cases. Analysis of each model is performed under Follower Load and developed stress in the discs and forces in the collagen fibers are investigated. Stresses on the discs vary in magnitude and distribution depending on the degree of lordosis. A straight hypo-lordotic spine shows stresses more equally distributed among discs while a highly curved hyper-lordotic spine has stresses concentrated at lower discs. Stresses are uniformly distributed in each disc for Hypo-L case while they are concentrated posteriorly for Hyper-L case. Also, the maximum force in collagen fibers is developed in the Hyper-L case. These differences might be clinically significant related to back pain.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subramanya Uppala ◽  
Robert X. Gao ◽  
Scott Cowan ◽  
K. Francis Lee

Abstract The strength and stability of the lumbar spine are determined not only by the bone and muscles, but also by the visco-elastic structures and the interplay between the different components of the spine, such as ligaments, capsules, annulus fibrosis, and articular cartilage. In this paper we present a non-linear three-dimensional Finite Element model of the lumbar spine. Specifically, a three-dimensional FE model of the L4-5 one-motion segment/2 vertebrae was developed. The cortical shell and the cancellous bone of the vertebral body were modeled as 3D isoparametric eight-nodal elements. Finite element models of spinal injuries with fixation devices are also developed. The deformations across the different sections of the spine are observed under the application of axial compression, flexion/extension, and lateral bending. The developed FE models provided input to both the fixture design and experimental studies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 01006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid M.A. Kadhim ◽  
Mohammed J Altaee ◽  
Ali Hadi Adheem ◽  
Akram R. Jawdhari

Fibre reinforced cementitious matric (FRCM) is a recent application of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement, developed to overcome several limitations associated with the use of organic adhesive [e.g. epoxies] in FRPs. It consists of two dimensional FRP mesh saturated with a cement mortar, which is inorganic in nature and compatible with concrete and masonry substrates. In this study, a robust three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model has been developed to study the behaviour of slender reinforced concrete columns confined by FRCM jackets, and loaded concentrically and eccentrically. The model accounts for material nonlinearities in column core and cement mortar, composite failure of FRP mesh, and global buckling. The model response was validated against several laboratory tests from literature, comparing the ultimate load, load-lateral deflection and failure mode. Maximum divergence between numerical and experimental results was 12%. Following the validation, the model will be used later in a comprehensive parametric analysis to gain a profound knowledge of the strengthening system, and examine the effects of several factors expected to influence the behaviour of confined member.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-453
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Handrigan ◽  
Sam Nakhla

An investigation to determine the effect of porosity concentration and location on elastic modulus is performed. Due to advancements in testing methods, the manufacturing and testing of microbeams to obtain mechanical response is possible through the use of focused ion beam technology. Meanwhile, rigorous analysis is required to enable accurate extraction of the elastic modulus from test data. First, a one-dimensional investigation with beam theory, Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko, was performed to estimate the modulus based on load-deflection curve. Second, a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model in Abaqus was developed to identify the effect of porosity concentration. Furthermore, the current work provided an accurate procedure to enable accurate extraction of the elastic modulus from load-deflection data. The use of macromodels such as beam theory and three-dimensional FE model enabled enhanced understanding of the effect of porosity on modulus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-693
Author(s):  
Liuqing Yang ◽  
Ming Hu ◽  
Deming Zhao ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Xun Zhou

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel method for analyzing wheel-rail (W-R) contact using thermo-mechanical measurements and study the effects of heating on the characteristics of W-R contact under different creepages. Design/methodology/approach This study developed an implicit-explicit finite element (FE) model which could solve both partial slip and full sliding problems by setting different angular velocities on the wheels. Based on the model, four material types under six different creepages were simulated. Findings The results showed that frictional heating significantly affected the residual stress distribution under large creepage conditions. As creepage increased, the temperature of the wheel tread and rail head rose and the peak value was located at the trailing edge of the contact patch. Originality/value The proposed FE model could reduce computational time and thus cost to about one-third of the amount commonly found in previous literature. Compared to other studies, these results are in good agreement and offer a reasonable alternative method for analyzing W-R contact under various conditions. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2019-0298


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document