COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS BASED INVESTIGATIONS OF BRAIN BIOMECHANICS

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been identified as “signature wound” in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blast wave generated by improvised explosive devices can cause mild, moderate and several injuries to soldiers and civilians. It was estimated that approximate 20 percent of deployed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan had suffered with blast induced brain injury (bTBI). To identify the injury mechanism, interaction dynmaics of blast wave with head and response of head subjected to blast load computational method is used. In computational method finite element numerical technique is used to study the blast wave propagation, interaction with head in computationally modeled shock tube or head subjected to conwep blast load. Brain injury due to blast load causes by direct transmission of blast wave (primary effect) inside brain and rotational acceleration of head (secondary effect).However contribution of each effect is still not identified. In this work we try to address this issue. Computational simulation of simplified cylinder head subjected to blast load inside shock tube and subjected blast load has been performed till t =100 ms in this work. Simulatin of tie and sliding contact between skull and brain head model is subjected to conwep blast load has been performed till t =100 ms and results are compared between tie and slising contact model. Further pressure, von Mises stress and strain time history output is measured and compared at spatial locations inside brain for shock tube model. Additional simulation has been also performed for spherical head model subjected to conwep blast load and two dimensional human head model subjected to blast load inside shock tube for t = 100 ms and results are compared at spatial locations inside the brain. Mitigation strategies for bTBI due to primary and secondary effect is also illustrated under this work