Modelling human Tibio-Femoral cartilage response by FEA using simple alternative material models

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_8How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Transversely Isotropic; Tibio-Femoral; Articular cartilages

Abstract

Modeling cartilage degeneration in the human tibiofemoral joint demands a balance between mechanical fidelity and computational feasibility. This study introduces an innovative static finite element framework using a non-porous, transversely isotropic (TI) material model to simulate knee joint cartilage mechanics. Unlike multiphasic poroelastic or fibril reinforced formulations, the proposed model omits fluid effects while preserving directional stiffness reducing computational complexity without significant loss of biomechanical accuracy. Subject-specific cartilage geometries from the Open Knee(s) dataset were analyzed under a 0.5 mm displacement-driven compressive load. Mesh convergence was achieved at approximately 680,000 elements with peak von Mises stress values (0.293 MPa) and deformation pattern aligning within 5–20% of experimental and poroelastic model benchmarks. The model captured physiological contact interactions, including stress concentration at the contact periphery and.

central deformation zones. This approach demonstrates that TI elasticity can approximate essential cartilage behavior under static loading, making it a promising base for future degeneration and dynamic studies with slight deviations yet to be overcome. The method bridges a critical gap between oversimplified isotropic and resource-intensive poromechanical models, enabling faster, robust simulations for early-stage joint biomechanics research.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Delan Francis
AU  - P. V. Sarath
AU  - Manoj Kumar Mukundan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/25
TI  - Modelling human Tibio-Femoral cartilage response by FEA using simple alternative material models
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference Recent Advances in Materials, Processes and Technology for Sustainability (RAMPTS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 125
EP  - 134
SN  - 2590-3217
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_8
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_8
ID  - Francis2025
ER  -