On the application of the finite cell method to static analysis of trabecular bone tissue specimen using high‐resolution microCT data

Abstract

This study aims to introduce a robust numerical approach to simulate complex small‐scale mediums such as trabecular bone tissue in form of a cylindrical specimen taken from human vertebra. Consideration of previous related studies indicates that there are several challenges in utilizing standard finite element (FE) techniques for the analysis of such biomechanical structures. This is mainly due to their time‐consuming procedure required for generating geometry conforming meshes. In this regard, the finite cell method (FCM) is an interesting alternative because it is based on the concept of the fictitious domain technique in which underlying meshes do not need to conform to the boundary of the domain. Since the considered trabecular bone tissue consists of a complex small‐scale internal morphology, generating a FE mesh is rather complicated. So, the application of the FCM can be justified by overcoming the mentioned shortcomings of FE methods for this problem. Using FCM, it is possible to simulate the mentioned trabecular cylinder from vertebral body using higher order cells of regular shapes where the geometry is taken care of through the numerical integration. The input for the present numerical tool corresponding to the complex internal morphology of the proposed tissue is given by a high‐resolution microCT scan. The outcome of the FCM will be compared to results obtained by mechanical testing of the specimen.