Phase-field approach to model fracture in human aorta

2019-08-23
Gültekin, Osman
Holzapfel, Gerhard A.
Dal, Hüsnü
Over the last decades the supra-physiological and pathological aspects of arterial tissues have become a prominent research topic in computational biomechanics in terms of constitutive modeling considering damage and fracture [1]. The current study presents a variational approach to the fracture of human arterial walls, featuring a thermodynamically consistent, gradient-type, diffusive crack phase-field approach. A power balance renders the Euler-Lagrange equations of the multi-field problem, i.e. the deformation and the phase-field. The respective constitutive model is essentially anisotropic and in accordance with the tissue morphology. A novel anisotropic phase-field model accounts for not only the altered crack patterns with respect to the orientation collagen fibers, but also the distinct strain-energy contributions due to isotropic and anisotropic parts [2, 3, 4]. The prediction of the crack pattern are studied via single edge-notched tests to ascertain anisotropic features of the model. Aside from that, a novel simple concept of design, i.e. an idealized cylindrical model of the multi-layered thoracic aortic wall with a notch representing the initial tear provides insights regarding the nascent crack growth associated with aortic dissection. In particular, the analysis indicates crack onset and progression around the initial tear while aligning with the direction of the first fiber family, capturing the helical pattern of the aortic dissection in the aorta [4]. The results also lay bare the need for a systematic experimental characterization of the human aorta for an inclusive parameter identification
The 1st International Workshop on Plasticity, Damage and Fracture of Engineering Materials IWPDF (2019)

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Citation Formats
O. Gültekin, G. A. Holzapfel, and H. Dal, “Phase-field approach to model fracture in human aorta,” presented at the The 1st International Workshop on Plasticity, Damage and Fracture of Engineering Materials IWPDF (2019), Ankara, Türkiye, 2019, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://iwpdf.ae.metu.edu.tr/book_of_abstracts.pdf#page=35.