Project

An important restriction in the current Finite element human body models (FE-HBMs) is the material models implemented, as biofidelity is sacrificed to accommodate computationally stable models. But also, because experimental data on tissue level is much lacking for the development of useful material models. The long-term aim of this work is to provide experimental data and updated constitutive models of human soft tissues when exposed to high strain rate loading. Especially noteworthy is the compressibility of soft tissues at different strain rates, as it has a huge influence on the mechanical response as well as computational stability.

Since there is no standard or accepted method to characterize adipose tissue under impact loading, this pre-study will design a test set-up (i.e. to detail that equipment can be purchased or manufactured) to ensure that the relevant mechanisms of the material and the model are properly activated, as well as what kind of precision is needed for sensors and sample sizes, etc. Industrial partners will contribute with knowledge on what range of strain and strain rates are of most interest for injury prediction in traffic safety simulations. The designed test set-up for adipose tissue is expected to be adaptable to other soft tissues as well.

Relevant literature will be surveyed to compare experimental protocols and set-up in other applications. Partners and project group members with broad experience in experimental procedures will monitor the project work and contribute with suggestions and feedback.
This pre-study is important to gain credibility in conducting the experiments, and to discuss with partners to carry out the experiments in the future.

The long-term research goal is to gain confidence and knowledge on the proper modeling of adipose tissue in FE-HBM:s, which is needed to further develop existing FE-HBMs, in particular for developing models representing different BMI, age, gender etc. Moreover, the purpose of this pre-study is to enable the experiments needed to pursue bio-fidelic material models for adipose tissue at high strain rates. Such high-quality experimental data will be an important asset for SAFER researchers in new national and international collaborative research projects.