The accumulation of microdamage renders bone tissues more vulnerable to excessive
fatigue loading, which could potentially lead to fragility fractures. There is a need for
an effective and noninvasive approach for predicting damage-prone regions. The
literature lacks investigation into quasi-brittle damage-informed remodelling, which is
hypothesized to accurately capture the damage state. The present study aims to
formulate a strain-driven microdamage-informed remodelling framework to
accurately depict the quasi-brittle nature of bone and to predict damage and
adaptation state of a two-dimensional proximal human femur. Additionally, the
potential of the proposed approach was assessed under the effects of the
key remodelling parameters. Results imply that insufficient magnitude of
remodelling, rapid stimulus diffusion, excessively fast remodelling, and inadequate
diffusion coefficient promote substantial damage accumulation. The choice of
adequate parameters reduces the femur fracture risk. The proposed model
can serve clinicians as a predictor of likely femur fracture regions in elderly
populations.
Keywords
bone adaptation, damage mechanics, quasi-brittle bone
behavior, finite element analysis, human femur
International Research Center for
the Mathematics and Mechanics of Complex Systems
and Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile-Architettura e
Ambientale
University of L’Aquila
Italy
Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica
Matematica
Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica
Italy