Experimental and theoretical stress analysis methods are used to evaluate the mechanical behaviour of external jixation devices as load-bearing structures. For the experimental part, a modular assembly was fabricated from which unilateral and bilateral jixators of different design conjigurations were assembled and tested under various loading conditions. A reflective photoelasticity technique was used to study the eflect of frame configuration on the stress patterns generated around the pin-bone interface. Finite element models of each design were also generated using three-dimensional beam and shell elements. Spring elements were used to model the pinlsidebar clamp. It is shown that close correspondence between the experimental and theoretical methods of investigation is obtained when theflexibility of the pinfside-bar clamp is taken into account. It is also shown that a unilateral design, modified by attaching a second side-bar to the first and connecting them by means of a semicircular component, can achieve some of the structural advantages of bilateraljixators without the clinical disadvantage of transfixing pins.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.