Development and validation of a distal radius finite element model to simulate impact loading indicative of a forward fall

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Burkhart, Timothy A.¹; Quenneville, Cheryl E.²; Dunning, Cynthia E.¹; Andrews, David M.³

Development and validation of a distal radius finite element model to simulate impact loading indicative of a forward fall

Proc Inst Mech Eng Part H-J Eng Med. March 2014;228(3):258-271

©2014 IMechE

Affiliations

¹Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, ON, Canada

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

³Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
Abstract and keywords

The purpose of this work was to develop and validate a finite element model of the distal radius to simulate impact loading. Eight-node hexahedral meshes of the bone and impactor components were created. Three separate impact events were simulated by altering the impact velocity assigned to the model projectile (pre-fracture, crack and fracture). Impact forces and maximum and minimum principal strains were calculated and used in the validation process by comparing with previously collected experimental data. Three measures of mesh quality (Jacobians, aspect ratios and orthogonality) and four validation methods (validation metric, error assessment, fracture comparisons and ensemble averages) assessed the model. The element Jacobians, aspect ratios and orthogonality measures ranged from 0.08 to 12, 1.1 to 26 and 270 to 80, respectively. The force and strain validation metric ranged from 0.10 to 0.54 and 0.35 to 0.67, respectively. The estimated peak axial force was found to be a maximum of 28.5% greater than the experimental (crack) force, and all forces fell within 62 standard deviation of the mean experimental fracture forces. The predicted strains were found to differ by a mean of 33% across all impact events, and the model was found to accurately predict the location and severity of bone damage. Overall, the model presented here is a valid representation of the distal radius subjected to impact.

Keywords: Radius; impact; validation metric; forward fall
Links

DOI: 10.1177/0954411914522781

PubMed: 24515978

WoS: 000332705600005
History

Received: 2013-05-07

Accepted: 2014-01-15

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Cited By (5)

Year	Entry
2015	Zapata E, Follet H, Mitton D. Ex vivo protocol to reproduce a forward fall leading to fractured and non‐fractured radii. In: Proceedings of the 2015 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 9-11, 2015; Lyon, France.221-226.
2017	Smolen C, Quenneville CE. A finite element model of the foot/ankle to evaluate injury risk in various postures. Ann Biomed Eng. August 2017;45(8):1993-2008.
2015	Smolen C. Evaluation of the Load Path Through the Foot/ankle Complex in Various Postures Through Cadaveric and Finite Element Model Testing [Master's thesis]. Hamilton, ON: McMaster University; September 2015.
2018	Hosseinitabatabaei S. High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography Based Finite Element Modelling of Distal Radius Strength: Assessing Effect of Heterogeneous Material Properties and Scan Site [Master's thesis]. University of Saskatchewan; October 2018.
2020	Bunyamin ATO. Predicting Off-Axis Bone Strength of the Distal Radius Using High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography Based Finite Element Modeling [Master's thesis]. University of Saskatchewan; March 2020.