TY - JOUR
T1 - A discrete approach for modeling degraded elastic fibers in aortic dissection
AU - Rolf-Pissarczyk, Malte
AU - Li, Kewei
AU - Fleischmann, D.
AU - Holzapfel, Gerhard
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - The initiation and propagation of aortic dissection have not yet been fully elucidated. An essential role is attributed to the degradation of inter-lamellar elastic fibers in the aortic media which causes a significant lowering of the radial strength. Inter-lamellar elastic fibers are aligned radially and contribute mainly to the cohesion of the lamellar units in the aortic media. Computational studies that consider these pathological findings during aortic dissection are rare. In this study, we propose a constitutive model which incorporates the degeneration of inter-lamellar elastic fibers. For this purpose, the recently introduced discrete fiber dispersion model is applied to include symmetrically dispersed inter-lamellar elastic fibers in a strain–energy function. Damaged or degraded elastic fibers are excluded from the strain–energy function by introducing a degradation parameter. Subsequently, the proposed model is implemented in a finite element program and verified with two representative numerical examples, uniaxial extension and simple shear. An aortic dissection geometry with two distinct layers, motivated from patient data, is then created to study the influence of degraded radially-directed elastic fibers on the stress distribution in an aortic dissection. In summary, the presented constitutive model is able to capture the degradation of inter-lamellar elastic fibers during aortic dissection. Moreover, the finite element analysis results of the patient-data motivated geometry suggest a possible mechanism triggering the dissection propagation.
AB - The initiation and propagation of aortic dissection have not yet been fully elucidated. An essential role is attributed to the degradation of inter-lamellar elastic fibers in the aortic media which causes a significant lowering of the radial strength. Inter-lamellar elastic fibers are aligned radially and contribute mainly to the cohesion of the lamellar units in the aortic media. Computational studies that consider these pathological findings during aortic dissection are rare. In this study, we propose a constitutive model which incorporates the degeneration of inter-lamellar elastic fibers. For this purpose, the recently introduced discrete fiber dispersion model is applied to include symmetrically dispersed inter-lamellar elastic fibers in a strain–energy function. Damaged or degraded elastic fibers are excluded from the strain–energy function by introducing a degradation parameter. Subsequently, the proposed model is implemented in a finite element program and verified with two representative numerical examples, uniaxial extension and simple shear. An aortic dissection geometry with two distinct layers, motivated from patient data, is then created to study the influence of degraded radially-directed elastic fibers on the stress distribution in an aortic dissection. In summary, the presented constitutive model is able to capture the degradation of inter-lamellar elastic fibers during aortic dissection. Moreover, the finite element analysis results of the patient-data motivated geometry suggest a possible mechanism triggering the dissection propagation.
KW - Aortic dissection
KW - Constitutive modeling
KW - Discrete fiber dispersion model
KW - Elastic fibers
KW - Fibrous tissue
KW - Finite element analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096218940&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cma.2020.113511
DO - 10.1016/j.cma.2020.113511
M3 - Article
SN - 0045-7825
VL - 373
JO - Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
JF - Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
IS - 373
M1 - 113511
ER -