Effects of Bone Young’s Modulus on Finite Element Analysis in the Lateral Ankle Biomechanics

Abstract

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a powerful tool in biomechanics. The mechanical properties of biological tissue used in FEA modeling are mainly from experimental data, which vary greatly and are sometimes uncertain. The purpose of this study was to research how Young’s modulus affects the computations of a foot-ankle FEA model. A computer simulation and an in-vitro experiment were carried out to investigate the effects of incremental Young’s modulus of bone on the stress and strain outcomes in the computational simulation. A precise 3-dimensional finite element model was constructed based on an in-vitro specimen of human foot and ankle. Young’s moduli were assigned as four levels of 7.3, 14.6, 21.9 and 29.2 GPa respectively. The proximal tibia and fibula were completely limited to six degrees of freedom, and the ankle was loaded to inversion 10° and 20° through the calcaneus. Six cadaveric foot-ankle specimens were loaded as same as the finite element model, and strain was measured at two positions of the distal fibula. The bone stress was less affected by assignment of Young’s modulus. With increasing of Young’s modulus, the bone strain decreased linearly. Young’s modulus of 29.2 GPa was advisable to get the satisfactory surface strain results. In the future study, more ideal model should be constructed to represent the nonlinearity, anisotropy and inhomogeneity, as the same time to provide reasonable outputs of the interested parameters.

Effect of coronal fracture angle on the stability of screw fixation in medial malleolar fractures: A finite element analysis

“…Some research related to FEA of bone structures assumes the trabecular and cortical structures to be separated; however, others assume them to be a single body and provide different values for each material's mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio, yield stress, density etc. For example, some studies provide the modulus of elasticity (as one of the critical mechanical properties) as 7.30 GPa; however, Niu et al (2013) reports that this value is a bit lower than experimental results given by other literature which provide the value between 13.10 and 32.20 GPa for the modulus of elasticity of human tibia. 71 2011) report this disagreement (changing values) on the material properties (most especially on modulus of elasticity) of human bones given in the literature.…”

“…For example, some studies provide the modulus of elasticity (as one of the critical mechanical properties) as 7.30 GPa; however, Niu et al (2013) reports that this value is a bit lower than experimental results given by other literature which provide the value between 13.10 and 32.20 GPa for the modulus of elasticity of human tibia. 71 Wirtz et al (2000), Cammarata et al (2016) and a detailed review on bone properties by Novitskaya et al (2011) report this disagreement (changing values) on the material properties (most especially on modulus of elasticity) of human bones given in the literature. 72–74 It was also reported that different material testing methods (such as tensile, compression and bending tests) might provide different ranges for the material properties of bone structures.…”

Contact patterns in the ankle joint after lateral ligamentous injury during internal rotation: A computational study

“…Due to the lack of data regarding the distribution of articular cartilage thickness, a uniform thickness was considered for all cartilages. 32,33 The replication of non-uniform cartilage thickness would likely influence computed contact pressures, especially near the tibial mortise, fibular notch and trochlea tali, where cartilage thickness is known to vary. 12,13 All ligaments were considered linear elastic, isotropic and homogenous materials.…”

A Biomechanical Comparison of Two Intramedullary Implants for Subtrochanteric Fracture in Two Healing Stages: A Finite Element Analysis

“…The fractured model (AO classification 32-A3.1) was then produced at 3-cm below the level of the lesser trochanter. The modelling process was detailed elsewhere [ 12 – 14 ].…”

“…The elastic moduli of the callus were, respectively, assigned as 5,000 MPa in the soft callus stage (SCS) and 15,000 MPa in the hard callus stage (HCS) [ 11 ]. A recent study showed that the FE computation was greatly affected by the assignation of the elastic modulus [ 12 ]. Therefore, the material properties of the elderly intact femur were accurately assigned on an element-by-element basis using the density-gray and modulus-density relationship as follows [ 15 ]: where Gv is gray value; ρ is the element density; and E is the elastic modulus.…”