Numerical investigations of rib fracture failure models in different dynamic loading conditions
Journal article, 2016

Rib fracture is one of the most common thoracic injuries in vehicle traffic accidents that can result in fatalities associated with seriously injured internal organs. A failure model is critical when modelling rib fracture to predict such injuries. Different rib failure models have been proposed in prediction of thorax injuries. However, the biofidelity of the fracture failure models when varying the loading conditions and the effects of a rib fracture failure model on prediction of thoracic injuries have been studied only to a limited extent. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of three rib failure models on prediction of thoracic injuries using a previously validated finite element model of the human thorax. The performance and biofidelity of each rib failure model were first evaluated by modelling rib responses to different loading conditions in two experimental configurations: (1) the three-point bending on the specimen taken from rib and (2) the anterior–posterior dynamic loading to an entire bony part of the rib. Furthermore, the simulation of the rib failure behaviour in the frontal impact to an entire thorax was conducted at varying velocities and the effects of the failure models were analysed with respect to the severity of rib cage damages. Simulation results demonstrated that the responses of the thorax model are similar to the general trends of the rib fracture responses reported in the experimental literature. However, they also indicated that the accuracy of the rib fracture prediction using a given failure model varies for different loading conditions.

failure model

rib fracture

finite element model

thorax

dynamic loading

Author

F. Wang

Hunan University

University of Western Australia

Xiamen University of Technology

Jikuang Yang

Chalmers, Applied Mechanics, Vehicle Safety

K. Miller

University of Western Australia

Cardiff University

G. Li

Hunan University

Trinity College Dublin

G.R. Joldes

University of Western Australia

B. Doyle

University of Western Australia

University of Edinburgh

A. Wittek

University of Western Australia

Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering

1025-5842 (ISSN) 14768259 (eISSN)

Vol. 19 5 527-537

Subject Categories

Mechanical Engineering

DOI

10.1080/10255842.2015.1043905

More information

Latest update

9/6/2018 7