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Finite element analysis of the cranium: Validity, sensitivity and future directions

Ricardo Miguel GODINHO, Viviana TORO-IBACACHE, Laura C. FITTON & Paul O'HIGGINS

en Comptes Rendus Palevol 16 (5-6) - Pages 600-612

Published on 30 September 2017

This article is a part of the thematic issue Hominin biomechanics, virtual anatomy and inner structural morphology: From head to toe. A tribute to Laurent Puymerail

Finite element analysis (FEA) is increasingly applied in skeletal biomechanical research in general, and in fossil studies in particular. Underlying such studies is the principle that FEA provides results that approximate reality. This paper provides further understanding of the reliability of FEA by presenting a validation study in which the deformations experienced by a real cadaveric human cranium are compared to those of an FE model of that cranium under equivalent simulated loading. Furthermore, model sensitivity to simplifications in segmentation and material properties is also assessed. Our results show that absolute deformations are not accurately predicted, but the distribution of the regions of relatively high and low strains, and so the modes of global deformation, are reasonably approximated.


Keywords:

Validation study, Sensitivity analysis, Finite element analysis, Geometric morphometrics

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