Prestressing in finite deformation abdominal aortic aneurysm simulation

In abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) simulation the patient-specific geometry of the object of interest is very often reconstructed from in vivo medical imaging such as CT scans. Such geometries represent a deformed configuration stressed by typical in vivo conditions. However, commonly, such structures are considered stress-free in simulation. In this contribution we sketch and compare two methods to introduce a physically meaningful stress/strain state to the obtained geometry for simulations in the finite strain regime and demonstrate the necessity of such prestressing techniques. One method is based on an inverse design analysis to calculate a stress-free reference configuration. The other method developed here is based on a modified updated Lagrangian formulation. Formulation of both methods is provided. Applicability and accurateness of both approaches are compared and evaluated utilizing fully three-dimensional patient-specific AAA structures in the finite strain regime. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.