Abstract
This paper presents a novel fiber-based muscle model for the forward dynamics of the musculoskeletal system. While bones are represented by rigid bodies, the muscles are taken into account by means of one-dimensional cables that obey the laws of continuum mechanics. In contrast to standard force elements such as the Hill-type muscle model, this approach is close to the real physiology and also avoids the issue of wobbling masses. On the other hand, the computational cost is rather low in comparison with full 3D continuum mechanics simulations. The cable model includes sliding contact between individual fibers as well as between fibers and bones. For the discretization, cubic finite elements are employed in combination with implicit time stepping. Several validation studies and the simulation of a motion scenario for the upper limb demonstrate the potential of the fiber-based approach.
Highlights
The simulation of the musculoskeletal system is of great interest in a variety of fields, e.g., in the study of human movements, the design of effective treatments after injuries and the design of ergonomic workplaces
This paper presents a novel fiber-based muscle model for the forward dynamics of the musculoskeletal system
While bones are represented by rigid bodies, the muscles are taken into account by means of one-dimensional cables that obey the laws of continuum mechanics
Summary
The simulation of the musculoskeletal system is of great interest in a variety of fields, e.g., in the study of human movements, the design of effective treatments after injuries and the design of ergonomic workplaces. The key idea is based on a one-dimensional cable structure that incorporates large deformation and thickness change Such a fiber-based model may represent a complete muscle or it can be bundled with other fibers in order to mimic the real composition of muscles. High fidelity models of muscles are based on nonlinear continuum mechanics They are able to represent three-dimensional geometry, spatially varying features, the multiscale architecture of muscles, and multiphysics effects [2, 18, 26]. We model a muscle as a three-dimensional continuum located around a one-dimensional curve in space Starting from this geometric setting, we derive a onedimensional cable model that incorporates large deformation and thickness change. Based on nonlinear 3D continuum mechanics, we derive a cable model incorporating large deformations, incompressible hyper-elastic and viscous material response, prestressing, active stresses and thickness change of the crosssection in Sect.
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