FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF AN ELLIPTICAL HOLE IN STRETCHED SKIN

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the finite element analysis of an elliptical hole in stretched skin. In this study, the strain energy function developed by Veronda and Westmann was utilized in a finite element computer program to study the stress state and displacement field of an elliptical hole in the skin subjected to a tension field. This finite element program is based on finite elasticity theory and has been successfully used by Oden and Key to investigate the deformed shape of an initially circular hole in a square rubbery sheet subjected to finite uniaxial stretching. To test the accuracy of the finite element program, a simple uniaxial tension model was run. The results indicate that the finite element method provides a powerful tool to investigate the stress states surrounding wounds in the skin. The results were based on an isotropic model and can only be considered valid in a relative sense. To increase the utility of the program, anisotropic effects must be included.