Simulation of Damage in Human Cortical Bone with Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis in MATLAB

This paper examines bone fatigue damage using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to predict changes in modulus, damage and cycles to failure.The MATLAB-coded material model has been previously implemented in a full FEA package.It is based on published models of damage verified with experimental data.The MATLAB program inputs a finite element mesh and simulates the damage iteratively.Four meshes are examined:a machined tensile specimen of the bone, a machined bending specimen, a single strut of cancellous bone, and a 2-D slice of cancellous bone.This model is a fast testing method for ideas, allows easy comparison of different test geometries and material damage models, and may help to bring the study of bone damage to a broader audience.