This study is aimed at finding the stress and strain distribution in functional spinal unit of L4-L5 occurring due to physiological body movements under five loading conditions, namely compression, flexion, extension, lateral bending and torsion. To this purpose, 3D finite element (FE) model has been generated using 4-noded unstructured tetrahedral elements considered both for bones and intervertebral disc, and 1D tension-only spring elements for ligaments. The analyses were performed for a compression load of 500 N and for other load cases, a moment of 10 N-m along with a preload of 500 N was applied. The model was validated against in-vitro experimental data obtained from literature and FE analysis data for a range of motion (RoM) corresponding to various loading conditions. The highest stress was predicted in the case of torsion though the angular deformation was highest in case of flexion.
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