The Effects of Directionality of Blunt Impacts on Mechanical Response of the Brain

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesam Sarvghad-Moghaddam ◽  
Ghodrat Karami ◽  
Mariusz Ziejewski
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Diffuse Axonal Injury ◽  
Linear Acceleration ◽  
Human Head ◽  
Tissue Level ◽  
Injury Criteria ◽  
Local Shear ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Local Shear Stress

The intrinsic complexity of the human head and brain lies within the non-uniformity of their constitutive components in terms of shape, material, function, and tolerance. Due to this complexity, the directionality of impact, when the head is exposed to an assault, is a major concern as different responses are anticipated based on the location of impact. The main objective of the study was to show that while most studies propose the injury criteria as based on the kinematical parameters, the tissue-level brain features are more substantiated injury indicators. Accordingly, a finite element (FE) approach was employed to elucidate the injury-related behavior of the head for front, back, and side impacts against a rigid wall. To this end, a 50th percentile FE head-neck model, including most anatomical features, was used. The kinematics of the head in terms of the linear acceleration, as well as the biomechanical response of the brain at the tissue level in terms of intracranial pressure (ICP) and maximum local shear stress, were evaluated as the main injury criteria. Ls-Dyna, a transient, nonlinear, and explicit FE code, was employed to carry out all the simulations. To verify the influence of impact directionality, identical boundary conditions were enforced in all impact scenarios. While brain responses showed similar patterns in all three directions, different peak values were predicted. The highest peak values for the local shear stress, ICP gradient, and the center mass linear acceleration of brain were observed for the frontal impact. These threshold values are of great significance in predicting injuries such as diffuse axonal injury (DAI) resulting from the shear deformation of brain axons. It is believed that directionality considerations could greatly help to improve the design of protective headgears which are considered to be the most effective tools in mitigating a TBI.

scholarly journals Computation of history-dependent mechanical damage of axonal fiber tracts in the brain: towards tracking sub-concussive and occupational damage to the brain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse I. Gerber ◽  
Harsha T. Garimella ◽  
Reuben H. Kraft
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Bundle ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Head Injuries ◽  
Mechanical Damage ◽  
Tissue Level ◽  
Internal Damage ◽  
Damage Models ◽  
Axonal Fiber ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACTFinite element models are frequently used to simulate traumatic brain injuries. However, current models are unable to capture the progressive damage caused by repeated head trauma. In this work, we propose a method for computing the history-dependent mechanical damage of axonal fiber bundle tracts in the brain. Through the introduction of multiple damage models, we provide the ability to link consecutive head impact simulations, so that potential injury to the brain can be tracked over time. In addition, internal damage variables are used to degrade the mechanical response of each axonal fiber bundle element. As a result, the stiffness of the aggregate tissue decreases as damage evolves. To counteract this degenerative process, we have also introduced a preliminary healing model that reverses the accumulated damage, based on a user-specified healing duration. Using two detailed examples, we demonstrate that damage produces a significant decrease in fiber stress, which ultimately propagates to the tissue level and produces a measurable decrease in overall stiffness. These results suggest that damage modeling has the potential to enhance current brain simulation techniques and lead to new insights, especially in the study of repetitive head injuries.

Biomechanical Analysis of the Sensitivity of Brain Tissue Responses to FE Head Models in the Study of Impact-Induced TBI

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesam S. Moghaddam ◽  
Asghar Rezaei ◽  
Mariusz Ziejewski ◽  
Ghodrat Karami
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Human Head ◽  
Biomechanical Analysis ◽  
Head Model ◽  
Tissue Responses ◽  
Stress Prediction ◽  
Brain Material ◽  
The Brain

Abstract A numerical investigation is conducted on the injury-related biomechanical parameters of the human head under blunt impacts. The objective of this research is twofold; first to understand the role of the employed finite element (FE) head model — with its specific components, shape, size, material properties, and mesh size — in predicting tissue responses of the brain, and second to investigate the fidelity of pressure response in validating FE head models. Accordingly, two independently established and validated FE head models are impacted in two directions under two impact severities and their predicted responses in terms of intracranial pressure (ICP) and shear stress are compared. The coup-counter ICP peak values are less sensitive to head model, mesh size, and the brain material. In all cases, maximum ICPs occur on the outer surface, vanishing linearly toward the center of the brain. Hence, it is concluded that different head models may simply reproduce the results of ICP variations due to impact. Shear stress prediction, however, is mainly affected by the head model, direction and severity of impact, and the brain material.

Roughness Influence on Turbulent Flow Through Annular Seals

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Lucas ◽  
Sterian Danaila ◽  
Olivier Bonneau ◽  
Jean Freˆne
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Wall Shear Stress ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Reynolds Equation ◽  
Mixing Length ◽  
Local Shear ◽  
Wall Shear ◽  
Local Shear Stress

This paper deals with an analysis of turbulent flow in annular seals with rough surfaces. In this approach, our objectives are to develop a model of turbulence including surface roughness and to quantify the influence of surface roughness on turbulent flow. In this paper, in order to simplify the analysis, the inertial effects are neglected. These effects will be taken into account in a subsequent work. Consequently, this study is based on the solution of Reynolds equation. Turbulent flow is solved using Prandtl’s turbulent model with Van Driest’s mixing length expression. In Van Driest’s model, the mixing length depends on wall shear stress. However there are many numerical problems in evaluating this wall shear stress. Therefore, the goal of this work has been to use the local shear stress in the Van Driest’s model. This derived from the work of Elrod and Ng concerning Reichardt’s mixing length. The mixing length expression is then modified to introduce roughness effects. Then, the momentum equations are solved to evaluate the circumferential and axial velocity distributions as well as the turbulent viscosity μ1 (Boussinesq’s hypothesis) within the film. The coefficients of turbulence kx and kz, occurring in the generalized Reynolds’ equation, are then calculated as functions of the flow parameters. Reynolds’ equation is solved by using a finite centered difference method. Dynamic characteristics are calculated by exciting the system numerically, with displacement and velocity perturbations. The model of Van Driest using local shear stress and function of roughness has been compared (for smooth seals) to the Elrod and Ng theory. Some numerical results of the static and dynamic characteristics of a rough seal (with the same roughness on the rotor as on the stator) are presented. These results show the influence of roughness on the dynamic behavior of the shaft.

scholarly journals Stress-gradient Coupling in Glacier Flow: IV. Effects of the “T” Term

1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (112) ◽  
pp. 342-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barclay Kamb ◽  
Keith A. Echelmeyer
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Coupling Theory ◽  
Longitudinal Stress ◽  
Longitudinal Flow ◽  
Stress Gradients ◽  
Flow Coupling ◽  
Flow Response ◽  
Longitudinal Variations ◽  
Local Shear ◽  
Local Shear Stress

AbstractThe “T term” in the longitudinal stress-equilibrium equation for glacier mechanics, a double y-integral of ∂2τxy/∂x2 where x is a longitudinal coordinate and y is roughly normal to the ice surface, can be evaluated within the framework of longitudinal flow-coupling theory by linking the local shear stress τxy at any depth to the local shear stress τB at the base, which is determined by the theory. This approach leads to a modified longitudinal flow-coupling equation, in which the modifications deriving from the T term are as follows: 1. The longitudinal coupling length is increased by about 5%. 2. The asymmetry parameter σ is altered by a variable but small amount depending on longitudinal gradients in ice thickness h and surface slope α. 3. There is a significant direct modification of the influence of local h and α on flow, which represents a distinct “driving force” in glacier mechanics, whose origin is in pressure gradients linked to stress gradients of the type ∂τxy/∂x. For longitudinal variations in h, the “T force” varies as d2h/dx2 and results in an in-phase enhancement of the flow response to the variations in h, describable (for sinusoidal variations) by a wavelength-dependent enhancement factor. For longitudinal variations in α, the “force” varies as dα/dx and gives a phase-shifted flow response. Although the “T force” is not negligible, its actual effect on τB and on ice flow proves to be small, because it is attenuated by longitudinal stress coupling. The greatest effect is at shortest wavelengths (λ 2.5h), where the flow response to variations in h does not tend to zero as it would otherwise do because of longitudinal coupling, but instead, because of the effect of the “T force”, tends to a response about 4% of what would occur in the absence of longitudinal coupling. If an effect of this small size can be considered negligible, then the influence of the T term can be disregarded. It is then unnecessary to distinguish in glacier mechanics between two length scales for longitudinal averaging of τb, one over which the T term is negligible and one over which it is not.Longitudinal flow-coupling theory also provides a basis for evaluating the additional datum-state effects of the T term on the flow perturbations Δu that result from perturbations Δh and Δα from a datum state with longitudinal stress gradients. Although there are many small effects at the ~1% level, none of them seems to stand out significantly, and at the 10% level all can be neglected.The foregoing conclusions apply for long wavelengths λh. For short wavelengths (λ h), effects of the T term become important in longitudinal coupling, as will be shown in a later paper in this series.

Comparison of void fraction change and local shear stress fluctuation in channel flow

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (0) ◽  
pp. OS3-5
Author(s):  
Hayato NAKAMURA ◽  
Satoshi OGAMI ◽  
Yoshihiko OISHI ◽  
Hideki KAWAI ◽  
Yuichi MURAI
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Channel Flow ◽  
Void Fraction ◽  
Stress Fluctuation ◽  
Local Shear ◽  
Local Shear Stress

scholarly journals The Brachial Artery Remodels to Maintain Local Shear Stress Despite the Presence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 606-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Chung ◽  
Naomi M. Hamburg ◽  
Monika Holbrook ◽  
Sherene M. Shenouda ◽  
Mustali M. Dohadwala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Risk Factors ◽  
Brachial Artery ◽  
Local Shear ◽  
Local Shear Stress
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