Computational simulation of penetrating trauma in biological soft tissues using the material point method

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop realistic computational models for soft tissues subjected to finite deformation and failure, and to test these models in the context of numerical simulations of penetrating trauma injuries. A transversely isotropic hyperelastic model with strain-based failure criteria was used to represent the behavior of anisotropic soft tissue. The constitutive model was implemented into an existing numerical code based on the Material Point Method (MPM). The penetration of a low-speed bullet through a myocardium material slab was simulated and several wounding scenarios were analyzed and compared. The material symmetry, the type of contact modeled between the bullet and the soft tissue and the bullet speed were shown to have a significant influence on the wound profile.