Mechanical assessment of porous media using hybrid skeleton graph analysis and finite elements. Application to trabecular bone

The combination of skeletons and Finite Elements (FE) analysis has recently shown its great potential in disordered porous media characterization. A full protocol for creating simplified skeleton-based FE models of large-scale disordered porous media and evaluating their stiffness is presented in this paper. The method uses a sequence of image processing tools. Known algorithms such as curve and surface thinning and shape classification have been improved or adapted to the specific field of porous media analysis. New techniques such as thickness map matching and surface marching cubes triangulation have also been combined. Finally, results from a clinical study on trabecular bone samples emphasize the improvements of the new beam/shell skeleton-based model in comparison to current FE processes.