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Adaptive meshing technique applied to an orthopaedic finite element contact problem.

Finite element methods have been applied extensively and with much success in the analysis of orthopaedic implants. Recently a growing interest has developed, in the orthopaedic biomechanics community, in how numerical models can be constructed for the optimal solution of problems in contact mechanics. New developments in this area are of paramount importance in the design of improved implants for orthopaedic surgery. Finite element and other computational techniques are widely applied in the analysis and design of hip and knee implants, with additional joints (ankle, shoulder, wrist) attracting increased attention. The objective of this investigation was to develop a simplified adaptive meshing scheme to facilitate the finite element analysis of a dual-curvature total wrist implant. Using currently available software, the analyst has great flexibility in mesh generation, but must prescribe element sizes and refinement schemes throughout the domain of interest. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to predict in advance a mesh spacing that will give acceptable results. Adaptive finite-element mesh capabilities operate to continuously refine the mesh to improve accuracy where it is required, with minimal intervention by the analyst. Such mesh adaptation generally means that in certain areas of the analysis domain, the size of the elements is decreased (or increased) and/or the order of the elements may be increased (or decreased). In concept, mesh adaptation is very appealing. Although there have been several previous applications of adaptive meshing for in-house FE codes, we have coupled an adaptive mesh formulation with the pre-existing commercial programs PATRAN (MacNeal-Schwendler Corp., USA) and ABAQUS (Hibbit Karlson and Sorensen, Pawtucket, RI). In doing so, we have retained several attributes of the commercial software, which are very attractive for orthopaedic implant applications.