Effects of torso-borne mass and loading severity on early response of the lumbar spine under high-rate vertical loading

Jiang Yue Zhang, Andrew C. Merkle, Catherine M. Carneal, Robert S. Armiger, Reuben H. Kraft, Emily E. Ward, Kyle A. Ott, Alexis C. Wickwire, Christopher J. Dooley, Timothy P. Harrigan, Jack C. Roberts

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Severities and types of under-body blast lumbar injuries maybe associated with loading severity and amount of torso-borne mass, such as personal protective equipment. The objective of this study was to delineate these effects using a high-fidelity pelvis-lumbar spine finite element model (FEM). Geometries of the FEM was reconstructed from computed tomography scans and scaled to 50th percentile male. Hexagonal solid elements were used for majority of the FEM, except shell elements for cortical shells and endplates and nonlinear springs for ligaments. Material properties were obtained from in-house high-rate bulk and shear testing when available. Pelvis acceleration loadings were obtained from full-body Hybrid-III FEM. Simulations were conducted with high and low pelvis accelerations, with and without torso-borne mass. Results found loading modes in the spine progressively changes from flexion, to compression, and extension from upper to mid- and lower level resulted in an "S" shaped deformation, indicating change of injury mechanisms along the spine. Localized spine deformation decoupled the torso-borne mass from the high-rate pelvis acceleration during the initial stage (20-30ms). Under high pelvis acceleration, the spine may fail before the torso mass is engaged. Under low severity and lateral stage, motion of torso mass needs to be considered.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages111-123
Number of pages13
StatePublished - Jan 1 2013
EventInternational Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury Conference, IRCOBI 2013 - Gothenburg, Sweden
Duration: Sep 11 2013Sep 13 2013

Conference

ConferenceInternational Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury Conference, IRCOBI 2013
Country/TerritorySweden
CityGothenburg
Period9/11/139/13/13

Keywords

  • Finite element model
  • Loading severity
  • Lumbar spine injury
  • Torso-borne mass
  • Under-body blast

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

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