Numerical simulation of stress shielding induced by crack interaction in human phalanx bone

Bone fracture is an injury not uncommon to everyday life. Most of the time, it leaves permanent damage and a long period of recovery. This situation can be prevented if we understand the mechanics and the process of the bone fracture. This study aims is to evaluate stress shielding induced by crack interaction using a simple model based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM). This simulation based on the determination of the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) and the changes of stress shielding in different crack interval towards the human phalanx bone. Numerical simulation had been carried out in this project to understand the stress shielding induced by crack interaction. The results revealed that the interaction of two cracks is directly proportional to the SIF magnitude and interaction factor at the crack tips. The parallel cracks have experienced increasing shielding effect as the cracks interval increase. The crack interaction limit (CIL) and crack unification limit (CUL) also had been accomplished for every range of crack interval in this project. Several improvements will be conducted for future development of this study, including various stresses loading subjected to the model, porous element added in the model, different planes of the model and use various methods in calculating the stress intensity factor (SIF).