Computational simulation of internal bone remodeling

SummaryA review of the state of the art in computational modeling and analysis of the mechanical behavior of living bone is given. Particular attention is placed on algorithms for the simulation of the stress or strain induced remodeling processes. A special remodeling algorithm is presented which allow the simulation of internal bone remodeling taking into account not only adaptation of the spatial distribution of the effective mass density, but also the adaptation of the orientation of the material axes and of the orientation dependent stiffness parameters. Such remodeling algorithms require a sound formulation of the constitutive relations of bony material. For this purpose some micro-macro mechanical descriptions of bone in its different microstructural configurations are discussed. In conjunction with the above mentioned remodeling algorithm a new unified material model is derived for describing the linear elastic, orthotropic behavior of bone in the full range of micro-structures of cancellous and cortical bone. The application of the novel remodeling algorithm is demonstrated in an example.