FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF FEMORAL BONE UNDER VARYING BONE DENSITY CONDITIONS

Abstract

Understanding the biomechanical response of a femoral bone under physiological loads is critical for assessing bone health and fracture risk, particularly in aging populations affected by osteopenia and osteoporosis. This study investigates the mechanical behavior of the femoral bone under standing loading conditions across three bone states: healthy bone, bone with osteopenia, and bone with osteoporosis. In-house finite element solver, PAK, was used to calculate von Mises stress and displacement values for each condition. The influence of reduced bone density on structural integrity was examined by comparing results among the three models. Displacement values increased from 0.724 mm in the healthy model to 1.02 mm in bone with osteopenia and 1.6 mm in bone with osteoporosis. For von Mises stress, the values indicate a slight decrease in stress values with bone density loss. Results obtained by the inhouse solver were validated against those obtained from the commercial solver Nastran, showing strong agreement in both stress and displacement values. The findings highlight the importance of early diagnosis of bone diseases and suggest that material properties based on patient-specific data could further enhance the predictive power of such simulations.