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Effect of Tissue Material Properties in Blast Loading: Coupled Experimentation and Finite Element Simulation

  • State-of-the-Art Modeling and Simulation of the Brain's Response to Mechanical Loads
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Abstract

Computational models of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) require a robust definition of the material models of the brain. The mechanical constitutive models of these tissues are difficult to characterize, leading to a wide range of values reported in literature. Therefore, the sensitivity of the intracranial pressure (ICP) and maximum principal strain to variations in the material model of the brain was investigated through a combined computational and experimental approach. A finite element model of a rat was created to simulate a shock wave exposure, guided by the experimental measurements of rats subjected to shock loading conditions corresponding to that of mild traumatic brain injury in a field-validated shock tube. In the numerical model, the properties of the brain were parametrically varied. A comparison of the ICP measured at two locations revealed that experimental and simulated ICP were higher in the cerebellum (p < 0.0001), highlighting the significance of pressure sensor locations within the cranium. The ICP and strain were correlated with the long-term bulk (p < 0.0001) and shear moduli (p < 0.0001), with an 80 MPa effective bulk modulus value matching best with experimental measurements. In bTBI, the solution is sensitive to the brain material model, necessitating robust validation methods.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grant No. 14059001 (W81XWH-15-1-0303) under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Authors acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Saikat Pal with proof reading, Debrina Roy in model development, and Dr. Raj Gupta in theoretical discussions.

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The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Engineering Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

    Molly T. Townsend, Eren Alay, Maciej Skotak & Namas Chandra

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  1. Molly T. Townsend
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  2. Eren Alay
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  3. Maciej Skotak
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  4. Namas Chandra
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Correspondence to Namas Chandra.

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Associate Editor Raj K. Prabhu oversaw the review of this article.

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Figure S1

The experimental incident pressure measurements (mean ± one standard deviation, n=4) were compared to the simulated incident pressure measurement at the location at which the Lagrangian part instance was placed (TIFF 157 kb)

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Townsend, M.T., Alay, E., Skotak, M. et al. Effect of Tissue Material Properties in Blast Loading: Coupled Experimentation and Finite Element Simulation. Ann Biomed Eng 47, 2019–2032 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-018-02178-w

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