Subject-Specific Head Model Generation by Mesh Morphing: A Personalization Framework and Its Applications

Finite element (FE) head models have become powerful tools in many fields within neuroscience, especially for studying the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Subject-specific head models accounting for geometric variations among subjects are needed for more reliable predictions. However, the generation of such models suitable for studying TBIs remains a significant challenge and has been a bottleneck hindering personalized simulations. This study presents a personalization framework for generating subject-specific models across the lifespan and for pathological brains with significant anatomical changes by morphing a baseline model. The framework consists of hierarchical multiple feature and multimodality imaging registrations, mesh morphing, and mesh grouping, which is shown to be efficient with a heterogeneous dataset including a newborn, 1-year-old (1Y), 2Y, adult, 92Y, and a hydrocephalus brain. The generated models of the six subjects show competitive personalization accuracy, demonstrating the capacity of the framework for generating subject-specific models with significant anatomical differences. The family of the generated head models allows studying age-dependent and groupwise brain injury mechanisms. The framework for efficient generation of subject-specific FE head models helps to facilitate personalized simulations in many fields of neuroscience.

Combining Analytical Models and Mesh Morphing Based Optimization Techniques for the Design of Flying Multihulls Appendages

The fluid dynamic design of hydrofoils involves most of the typical difficulties of aeronautical wings design with additional complexities related to the design of a device operating in a multiphase environment. For this reason, “high fidelity” analysis solvers should be, in general, adopted also in the preliminary design phase. In the case of modern fast foiling sailing yachts, the appendages accomplish both the task of lifting up the boat and to make possible upwind sailing by contributing balance to the sail side force and the heeling moment. Furthermore, their operative design conditions derive from the global equilibrium of forces and moments acting on the system which might vary in a very wide range of values. The result is a design problem defined by a large number of variables operating in a wide design space. In this scenario, the device performing in all conditions has to be identified as a trade-off among several conflicting requirements. One of the most efficient approaches to such a design challenge is to combine multi-objective optimization strategies with experienced aerodynamic design. This paper presents a numerical optimization procedure suitable for foiling multihulls. As a proof of concept, it reports, as an application, the foils design of an A-Class catamaran. The key point of the method is the combination of opportunely developed analytical models of the hull forces with high fidelity multiphase analyses in both upwind and downwind sailing conditions. The analytical formulations were tuned against a database of multiphase analyses of a reference demihull at several attitudes and displacements. An aspect that significantly contributes to both efficiency and robustness of the method is the approach adopted to the geometric parametrization of the foils which was implemented by a mesh morphing technique based on Radial Basis Functions.

Enhancing Turbine Deposition Prediction Capability With Conjugate Mesh Morphing

A framework for performing mesh morphing in a conjugate simulation in the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS Fluent is presented and validated. A procedure for morphing both the fluid and solid domains to simulate the protrusion of deposit into the fluid while concurrently altering and adding to the solid regions is detailed. The ability to delineate between the original metal sections of the solid and the morphed regions which represent deposit characteristics is demonstrated. The validity and predictive capability of the process is tested through simulation of a canonical impingement jet. A single over-sized impingement jet (6.35 mm) at 894 K and an average flow velocity of 56.5 m/s is used to heat a nickel-alloy target plate. One gram of 0-5 μm Arizona Road Dust (ARD) is delivered to the target and a Particle Shadow Velocimetry (PSV) technique is used to capture the transient growth of the deposit structure on the target. Thermal infrared images are taken on the backside of the target and synchronized with the PSV images. The experiment is modeled computationally using the Fluent Discrete Phase Model (DPM) and the Ohio State University (OSU) Deposition Model for sticking prediction. The target is morphed according to the particulate volume prediction. The deposit regions are assigned an effective conductivity (keff) representative of porous deposit, and the fluid and thermal computations are reconverged. 10 mesh morphing iterations are performed accounting for the first half of the experiment. The morphed deposit volume and height are compared to the experiment and show reasonable agreement. The backside target temperatures are also compared, and the simulations show the ability to predict the reduction in temperature that occurs as the growing deposit insulates the metal surface. It is demonstrated that the assignment of unique thermal conductivities to the deposit and metal cells within the solid is critical. With a more robust and accurate implementation of the deposit keff, this conjugate mesh morphing framework shows potential as a tool for predicting the thermal impact of deposition.

Thread Couplings Stress Analysis by Radial Basis Functions Mesh Morphing

Traditional analytical methods are approximate and need to be validated when it comes to predict the tensional behavior of thread coupling. Numerical finite element simulations help engineers come up with the optimum design, although the latter depends on the constraints and load conditions of the thread couplings which are often variable during the system functioning. The present work illustrates a new method based on Radial Basis Functions Mesh Morphing formulation to optimize the stress concentration in thread couplings which is subject to variable loads and constraints. In particular, thread root and fillet under-head drawings for metric ISO thread, which are the most commonly used thread connection, are optimized with Radial Basis Functions Mesh Morphing. In metric ISO threaded connection, the root shape and the fillet under the head are circular, and from shape optimization for minimum stress concentration it is well known that the circular shape becomes seldom optimal. The study is carried out to enhance the stress concentration factor with a simple geometric parameterization using two design variables. Radial Basis Functions Mesh Morphing formulation, performed with a simple geometric parameterization, has allowed to obtain a stress reduction of up to 12%; some similarities are found in the optimized designs leading to the proposal of a new standard. The reductions in the stress are achieved by rather simple changes made to the cutting tool.