Young scientists use CT scans to determine mechanical properties of materials
Scientists of the Lobachevsky Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of 每日大赛 are developing an innovative method for determining the mechanical properties of samples made of inhomogeneous materials based on digital twin data obtained using computed tomography.
The project “Development of a method for determining the mechanical parameters of inhomogeneous materials based on digital twin data” has become the winner of the 2024 grant competition of fundamental scientific research and exploratory scientific research by small individual research groups.
Project lead, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Computer Mathematics and Informatics, Research Associate of the Laboratory of Shell Mechanics Oleg Gerasimov, spoke about the innovative method and where it can be used.
“We are creating a software package, the uniqueness of which lies in the fact that the finite element method based on CT images is used to study samples. First, the program recreates the calculated geometry of the object based on the image, then breaks it down into elements with unique mechanical properties, performs the calculation and, based on the results, determines the strength and other parameters of the sample as a whole,” says Gerasimov.
The project team also includes research associates Victoria Smirnova and Elena Semyonova. The research is being conducted in close cooperation with the Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology and the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies.
“Our method can be used, for example, to determine the presence or absence of defects in composite materials, as well as to analyze the stress-strain state of human skeletal organs in biomedicine,” adds Gerasimov. “It is important that all calculations are performed without destroying the original samples. Moreover, the results can be obtained for various types of loading, which allows using the original array of computed tomography data for arbitrary modeling parameters. The calculation objects can be both elements of technical structures consisting of composite materials, and biological samples of inhomogeneous structure, the calculation of which must be carried out taking into account the unique structural features of the material. In the case of studying biomedical objects, the method allows obtaining results regardless of the geometric and topological features of the material.”
The method being developed at KFU can be used in medicine, for example, to diagnose and predict the condition of bone prostheses, as well as bone organs, the mechanic said.
“With its help, it is possible to track the process of bone tissue degradation in osteoporosis or, conversely, how it is being restored,” Gerasimov informs.
The project is scheduled for 2025 and 2026. As part of the work, it is planned to set up full-scale tests on samples of the modeled structure, produced using additive technologies, as well as to conduct computational experiments on samples of bone organs.
鈥淭he results will allow us to evaluate the strength of elements made of heterogeneous materials based on data on the spatial distribution of mechanical properties, which can also be used in studying issues of design optimization in the production of elements of non-trivial structure and geometry,鈥� concludes Oskar Sachenkov, Chair of the Department of Computer Mathematics and Informatics.