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A Lower Limb-Pelvis Finite Element Model with 3D Active Muscles

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Abstract

A lower limb-pelvis finite element (FE) model with active three-dimensional (3D) muscles was developed in this study for biomechanical analysis of human body. The model geometry was mainly reconstructed from a male volunteer close to the anthropometry of a 50th percentile Chinese male. Tissue materials and structural features were established based on the literature and new implemented experimental tests. In particular, the muscle was modeled with a combination of truss and hexahedral elements to define its passive and active properties as well as to follow the detailed anatomy structure. Both passive and active properties of the model were validated against the experiments of Post-Mortem Human Surrogate (PMHS) and volunteers, respectively. The model was then used to simulate driver’s emergency braking during frontal crashes and investigate Knee-Thigh-Hip (KTH) injury mechanisms and tolerances of the human body. A significant force and bending moment variance was noted for the driver’s femur due to the effects of active muscle forces during emergency braking. In summary, the present lower limb-pelvis model can be applied in various research fields to support expensive and complex physical tests or corresponding device design.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51405150, 51475154) and Hunan Province Science and Technology Plan (Grant No. 2015JJ3052).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacture for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, 410082, China

    Fuhao Mo, Fan Li, Zhi Xiao & Guanjun Zhang

  2. Laboratoire de Biomécanique Appliquée (IFSTTAR - Université de la Méditerranée), Faculté de Médecine Nord, Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13916, Marseille Cedex 20, France

    Michel Behr

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, 32114, USA

    Xianping Du

Authors
  1. Fuhao Mo
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  2. Fan Li
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  3. Michel Behr
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  4. Zhi Xiao
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  5. Guanjun Zhang
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Correspondence to Fuhao Mo.

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Associate Editor Eiji Tanaka oversaw the review of this article.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Definition of muscle properties.
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Mo, F., Li, F., Behr, M. et al. A Lower Limb-Pelvis Finite Element Model with 3D Active Muscles. Ann Biomed Eng 46, 86–96 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-017-1942-1

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