Bone cutting is widely used in orthopaedic, dental and neuro surgeries and is a technically demanding surgical procedure. Novel surgical methods are continually introduced in orthopaedic, neuro and dental surgeries and are aimed at minimising the invasiveness of the operation and allowing more precise cuts. One such method that utilises cutting with superimposed ultrasonic vibration is known as ultrasonically- assisted cutting (UAC). The main concern in bone cutting is the mechanical and thermal damage to the bone tissue induced by high-speed power tools. Recent technological improvements are concerned with the efforts to decrease the force required by the surgeon when cutting the bone as well as increases in surgery speed. A programme of experiments was conducted to characterise properties of a bone and get a basic understanding of the mechanics of bone cutting. The experiments included: (a) nanonindentation and tension tests to obtain the properties for the finite element (FE) bone cutting model, (b) high-speed filming to observe the chip formation process, which influences thermomechanics of the cutting process in conventional drilling (CD) and ultrasonically-assisted drilling (UAD) and, (c) plane cutting and drilling experiments to measure the levels of force and temperature rise in the bone tissue. Novel two-dimensional finite element (FE) models of cortical bone cutting were developed for conventional and ultrasonically-assisted modes with the MSC.MARC general FE code that provided thorough numerical analysis of thermomechanics of the cutting process. Mechanical properties such as the elastic modulus and strain-rate sensitivity of the bone material were determined experimentally and incorporated into the FE models. The influence of cutting parameters on the levels of stress, penetration force and temperature in the bone material was studied using conventional cutting (CC) and ultrasonically-assisted cutting (UAC). The temperature rise in the bone material near the cutting edge was calculated and the effect of cutting parameters on the level of thermal necrosis was analysed. The necrosis depth in bone was calculated as a distance from the cut surface to the point where the thermal threshold level was attained. Comparative studies were performed for the developed FE models of CC and UAC of bone and the results validated by conducting experiments and using data from scientific publications. The main outcome of the thesis is an in-depth understanding of the bone cutting process, and of its possible application in orthopaedics. Recommendations on further research developments are also suggested.

The basis for performing a thermo-mechanical staggered coupled heat source analysis of a welding simulation is implemented into LS-DYNA. In this report, three methods for initiating the heat source’s mechanical motion during girth and tubular joint welding are developed and evaluated. The first method is a reformulation of the equations used at Det Norske Veritas, the second is an incorporation of the equations into excel and the third is a standalone third party software. The most efficient of the developed methods turned out to be the software which creates k-files which are implemented into the main k-file using LS-PrePost. All methods have been visually and numerically evaluated using Excel, LS-DYNA and LS-PrePost.

Over the past decades simulation techniques, and in particular finite element method, have been used successfully to predict the response of systems across a whole range of industries including aerospace, automotive, chemical processes, geotechnical engineering and many others. In these numerical analyses, the behaviour of the actual material is approximated with that of an idealised material that deforms in accordance with some constitutive relationships. Therefore, the choice of an appropriate constitutive model that adequately describes the behaviour of the material plays an important role in the accuracy and reliability of the numerical predictions. During the past decades several constitutive models have been developed for various materials. In recent years, by rapid and effective developments in computational software and hardware, alternative computer aided pattern recognition techniques have been introduced to constitutive modelling of materials. The main idea behind pattern recognition systems such as neural network, fuzzy logic or genetic programming is that they learn adaptively from experience and extract various discriminants, each appropriate for its purpose. In this thesis a novel approach is presented and employed to develop constitutive models for materials in general and soils in particular based on evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR). EPR is a hybrid data mining technique that searches for symbolic structures (representing the behaviour of a system) using genetic algorithm and estimates the constant values by the least squares method. Stress-strain data from experiments are employed to train and develop EPR-based material models. The developed models are compared with some of the existing conventional constitutive material models and its advantages are highlighted. It is also shown that the developed EPR-based material models can be incorporated in finite element (FE) analysis. Different examples are used to verify the developed EPR-based FE model. The results of the EPR-FEM are compared with those of a standard FEM where conventional constitutive models are used to model the material behaviour. These results show that EPR-FEM can be successfully employed to analyse different structural and geotechnical engineering problems.

The third generation of hip resurfacing commenced in the U.K. in the 1990’s with the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing system and is now becoming more commonplace as an attractive alternative for young and active patients due to premature failure in total hip replacement in this patient group. However the Swedish National Hip Arthroplasty Register (2010) suggests that premature failure of resurfacing arthroplasty may be more prevalent than first expected. The aim of this study is to investigate, through Finite Element Analysis, the short, medium and long term performance of Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement of the femoral component in hip resurfacing arthroplasty. The study takes a forensic engineering approach, analysing the performance of PMMA bone cement in order to provide understanding, awareness and an insight into lifestyle options. Finite Element Analysis explores and models the effect of resting periods during daily activities, patients’ bone quality and PMMA bone cement Young’s modulus on the PMMA bone cement stresses within the femoral hip resurfacing component. Mechanical tests are used to illustrate the use of the Finite Element Analysis results. Contributing to knowledge, this study verifies the significance of high metal-on-metal friction due to resting periods, developing a dynamic FEA model to quantify the premature fatigue failure of PMMA bone cement, within the femoral component of hip resurfacing arthroplasty. A decrease in bone quality added to the effect of resting periods increase the risk of PMMA fatigue failure and PMMA-metal interface failure due to an increase of PMMA tensile and shear stresses, suggesting that patients with low bone quality should avoid hip resurfacing procedures. The use of low PMMA Young’s modulus could greatly enhance the long term success of hip resurfacing arthroplasty generally and specifically reduce the risk of interface failure and PMMA bone cement failure due to resting periods and patient bone quality. Moreover, this study shows that the consequence of PMMA fatigue failure and PMMA-metal interface failure must be included in the design, patient selection, screening process, post-operative rehabilitation and long term lifestyle attributes. This study suggests that occupational therapists and patients with hip resurfacing arthroplasty should be aware of high metal-on-metal friction situations, which could lead to early failure indicated by this research. The deleterious effect of resting periods indicated by this research could be alleviated by appropriate re-initiation of synovial lubrication by movement prior to full loading. Recommendations for further work include the compilation of a PMMA bone-cement fatigue properties database and further development of the FEA modelling technique for application upon other arthroplasty procedures.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint disease that leads to significant pain, loss of mobility and quality of life. Knee malalignment results in increased joint pressure, which is a primary cause for OA progression. High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) is a surgical procedure to correct malalignment and redistribute load in the knee joint, reduce peak pressure and delay OA progression. However, clinical outcomes have been unpredictable. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between malalignment and knee contact mechanics. A 3D computational model was created from magnetic resonance images of a cadaveric knee joint. A ligament tuning process was conducted to determine material properties. Finite element analyses were conducted, simulating end of weight acceptance during walking. Different wedge geometries were virtually removed to simulate malalignments from 14° valgus to 16° varus. Contact mechanics were sensitive to soft tissue material properties. In-vitro experiments were compared with computational modelling of the same specimen. Percent full-scale errors for contact force and pressure were less than 8%, demonstrating a unique subject-specific model validation. The native alignment of the cadaveric knee (1° varus) had medial and lateral compartment peak pressures of 4.28 MPa and 2.42 MPa, respectively. The medial:lateral force ratio was 70%:30%. Minimum contact stress did not occur at a Mechanical Axis Deviation (MAD) of zero millimetres nor at the Fujisawa Point, which are common targets for HTO correction. Results showed very strong correlations (r >0.94) between MAD and joint contact loading. This study is the first to demonstrate the relationship between stress (normal, shear, contact pressure) and MAD in a subject-specific model. This is a prerequisite for the development of a tool that could help surgeons make informed decisions on the degree of realignment required to minimise peak joint loading, thereby delaying OA progression.

Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA)-based finite element (FE) modelling has emerged as a potential tool for better assessment of osteoporotic hip fracture risk. Automation of this complex and computationally-intense procedure is the prime requirement for its clinical applicability. The aim of this study was to develop a fully automatic DXA-based finite element tool and assess its discrimination ability and short-term repeatability. The proximal femur was automatically segmented from clinical hip DXA scan and the subject-specific FE model was constructed for simulating sideways fall. Hip fracture risk indices (HFRIs) were calculated using two ways (along a femur cross-section and over a region of interest, ROI). Hip fracture discriminability increased when moved from femur cross-section based to ROI based HFRI calculation. A significant increase in hip fracture discriminability from baseline femoral neck and total hip bone mineral density (BMD) was achieved with ROI based HFRIs. Promising short-term repeatability was observed for HFRIs (coefficient of variation, CV, 3~3.5%). After removing representative poor cases, CVs were less than 3%. These preliminary results establish the potential of the proposed automatic tool for hip fracture risk assessment and justify large-scale clinical evaluation of its ability to predict incident hip fractures. / February 2017

Injury to the medial malleolus, the distal end of the tibia and one of the bones comprising the ankle joint, can occur in various loading scenarios. Open reduction/internal fixation (ORIF) to reattach the malleolar fragment to the proximal tibia can be achieved via various devices, however small fragments are particularly challenging to treat. In this study, computational finite element analysis (FEA) was utilized to investigate the fixation of transverse medial malleolar fractures by two cancellous screws or by a new fixation device, the Medial Malleolar Sled™. Cadaveric testing assessed the performance of the two constructs in both tension and torsion. Following experimentation, the cadaveric study was modeled in SolidWorks and analyzed via FEA to validate the model against the experimental results. Overall, stress analysis was indicative of areas of relatively higher stress concentrations that correlated with failure locations in the experiment. Such results speak to the predictive nature of the tension and torsion models created in the study, and to the general utility of computational modeling for the study of biomechanical systems.

Environmental challenges, such as global warming, growing demand on energy, and diminishing oil sources have accelerated research on alternative energy conversion methods. Thermoelectric power generation is a promising method to convert wasted heat energy into useful electrical energy form. A temperature gradient imposed on a thermoelectric device produces a Seebeck potential. However, this temperature gradient causes thermal stresses due to differential thermal expansions and mismatching of the bonded components of the device. Thermal stresses are critical for thermoelectric devices since they can generate failures, including dislocations, cracks, fatigue fractures, and even breakdown of the entire device. Decreases in power-generation performance and operation lifetime are major consequences of these failures. In order to minimize thermal stresses in the legs without affecting power-generation capabilities, this study concentrates on structural solutions. Thermoelectric devices with non-segmented and segmented legs were modeled. Specifically, the possible effect of various leg geometries, configurations, and dimensions were evaluated using finite-element and statistical methods. Significant changes in the magnitudes and distributions of thermal stresses occurred. Specifically, the maximum equivalent stresses in the rectangular-prism and cylindrical legs were 49.9 MPa and 43.3 MPa, respectively for the temperature gradient of 100ºC. By using cylindrical legs with modified dimensions, decreases in the maximum stresses in legs reached 21.2% without affecting power-generation performance. Moreover, the effect of leg dimensions and coaxial-leg configurations on power generation was significant; in contrast, various leg geometries and rotated-leg configurations had very limited affect. In particular, it was possible to increase power output from 20 mW to 65 mW by simply modifying leg widths and heights within the defined range. It should be noted, however, this modification also increased stress levels. It is concluded that leg geometries, configurations, and dimensions can be redesigned for improved durability and overall performance of thermoelectric devices.

The connection between contact geometry and fatigue in tapered roller bearings utilized in the railroad environment is still of interest. Roller bearings for railroad applications are typically precision ground with crowned contact geometries to prevent edge loading of components. This normally results in completely elastic Hertzian contact stresses under standard railcar loads. However, under extreme load conditions, detrimental edge loading has been known to occur. It is proposed to develop a tool, using finite element analysis, that can be utilized to optimize complex raceway crown geometries for severe applications. A successful implementation of this tool is presented and validated using proven Hertzian contact theory. Correlation within 5% of the ultimate surface and subsurface stress magnitudes, using finite element modeling, in contrast with proven contact theory is achieved. In addition, analyses of other load conditions and contact geometries in order to illustrate the practical application of the tool are exhibited.

Background: Hallux valgus (HV) is one of the most common foot deformities. Considering the fact that 23% of adults develop such condition during their lifetime, understanding HV is badly needed. Plantar pressure technologies are used widely for determination of biomechanical changes in foot during walking. There are already published claims relating to the pressure distribution of HV condition. Association of HV to sole pressure widely presented as a means of identifying such condition. Methods: plantar pressure patterns can be linked to the deformity progression or existence, extracting some patterns out of force measurements can be beneficial in recognizing the patients with and without deformity. The dynamic changes of the forces that applied to the fore-foot in volunteers with and without HV when they walked at self-selected and fast speeds were examined. Furthermore, Markovian chain transfer matrices were used to obtain the transfer coefficient of the force among five metatarsals. Another method was to measure the lateral flexibility of the 1st metatarsal joint as an indication of HV deformity by Motion Capture cameras. Finally, two 3D feet models of HV and non-HV volunteers were made in Mimics software and then in FEA (finite element analysis) the stress distribution under the foot was validated with the experiments. Results: The higher forces were observed under the 2nd, 3rd and 1st metatarsal heads in both speeds but the results obtained were significantly different among groups and in fast speed and under 3rd and 1st metatarsals in self-selected speed. In this study the use of Markovian transfer matrices as a means of characterising the gait pattern is new and novel. It was intended that highest coefficients of the matrix would indicate the existence of HV, however studies showed that the biggest difference between HV and non HV patients was the scatter of the coefficients which shown to give very strong indication of the existence of HV. It was shown by kinematic studies and also it was found that the 1st metatarsal joint was significantly more flexible in HV patients compared to non–HV individuals. Finally FEA studies has shown that in the 3D feet models of both volunteers (with and without HV), the highest stress was under the heal area and then transfers towards fore-foot area. In patient with HV the higher force were seen under the 1st to 3rd metatarsal heads compare to non-HV individual and each model was validated its related experiments. Conclusion: it was observed that there was a significant variability of pressure distribution of the same individual from one trial to another indicating that getting consistent pressure pattern is an important hurdle to overcome in our studies, raised loading is observed on Metatarsal 2, 3 and 1 in HV patients and it was possible to give statistical significance to these findings. In this thesis, it was intended to obtain early diagnostics of HV condition and much work was put in this, however outcome was not conclusive. However it was possible to distinguish HV form non-HV volunteers from the scatter characteristics of the transfer pattern. Investigation of the 1st metatarsal joint laxity of non-HV and HV patients revealed that HV individuals were significantly higher compared to non–HV volunteers and this can be used as an indication of HV existence. Finally, the 3D models show that FEA is a reliable tool as the FEA study showed good correlation with the experimental results.