Hole in One: an element reduction approach to modeling bone porosity in finite element analysis
Finite element analysis has been an increasingly widely used tool in many different science and engineering fields over the last decade. In the biological sciences, there are many examples of its use in areas as paleontology and functional morphology. Despite this common use, the modeling of porous structures such as trabecular bone remains a key issue because of the difficulty of meshing such highly complex geometries during the modeling process. A common practice is to mathematically adjust the boundary conditions (i.e. model material properties) of whole or portions of models that represent trabecular bone. In this study we aimed to demonstrate that a physical, element reduction approach constitutes a valid protocol to this problem in addition to the mathematical approach. We tested a new element reduction modeling script on five exemplar trabecular geometry models of carnivoran temporomandibular joints, and compared stress results of both physical and mathematical approaches to trabecular modeling to models incorporating actual trabecular geometry. Simulation results indicate that that the physical, element reduction approach generally outperformed the mathematical approach. Physical changes in the internal structure of experimental cylindrical models had a major influence on the recorded stress values throughout the model, and more closely approximates values obtained in models containing actual trabecular geometry than solid models with modified trabecular material properties. Therefore, we conclude that for modeling trabecular bone in finite element simulations, maintaining or mimicking the internal porosity of a trabecular structure is recommended as a fast and effective method in place of, or alongside, modification of material property parameters to better approximate trabecular bone behavior observed in models containing actual trabecular geometry.