Relative contribution of the thoracic components to the global behavior of the thorax - experimental methodology

24th Congress of the Society of Biomechanics, BEAUNE, SUISSE, 15-/09/1999 - 17/09/1999This is an abstract presented at the 'XXIVeme congres de la societe de biomecanique'. Today, models of human beings in car crash situations exist in which thoracic bony components (ribs, sternum,...) Are deformable elements. The passive action of certain muscles is also represented. However, the rib-vertebrae joint and the junction between the ribs and the sternal cartilage are not yet properly modeled. The knowledge of the behavior of these elements is important because it conditions the way the ribs are loaded when a force is applied to the sternum. And the loading of the ribs determines the risk of fracture. In order to include injury predictive capabilities in a finite element model, the ain of this study is to characterize the role of the junctions between the ribs and its adjacent bony structures. One particular objective is to define the degrees of freedom authorized by the rib junctions as well as the efforts and moments which they transmit to the rib when a force is applied at the level of the sternum. The study is limited, initially, to the quasi-static case. The authors describes the methods and the results of this experimental study will be used to improve the performance of a deformable finite element model of the rib cage developed with pam-crash