Open cell polyurethane foam compression failure characterization and its relationship to morphometry.

Open cell polyurethane foams are often used as cancellous bone surrogates because of their similarities in morphology and mechanical response. In this work, open cell polyurethane foams of three different densities are characterized from morphometric and mechanical perspectives. The analysis of micro-computed tomography images has revealed that the high density foams present the greatest inhomogeneities.

Assessment of mechanical properties of human head tissues for trauma modelling.

Many discrepancies are found in the literature regarding the damage and constitutive models for head tissues as well as the values of the constants involved in the constitutive equations. Their proper definition is required for consistent numerical model performance when predicting human head behaviour, and hence skull fracture and brain damage. The objective of this research is to perform a critical review of constitutive models and damage indicators describing human head tissue response under impact loading.