A new nonlinear viscoelastic model and mathematical solution of solids for improving prediction accuracy.

We developed an innovative material nonlinear viscoelastic model with physical mechanism and mathematical solution to improve existing ones. The relaxation modulus transits from the glassy stage to the rubbery stage through a time-dependent viscosity in a continuous spectrum considering the nonlinear strain hardening. Experimental results of differential solid materials including asphalt concrete, agarose gel, vaginal tissue, polymer, agar, bone, spider silk, and hydrogel demonstrate that the developed model is superior to generalized Maxwell model or Prony series for more accurate prediction outside of the range for data fitting while using much less model parameters. Numerical simulation results indicate that the new model has improved accuracy. It is stable numerically, and does not reduce computation speed. Therefore, the model may be used to simulate a broad range of viscoelastic solids for predicting experimental data and responses with improved accuracy.

Biomathematical model for simulating abnormal orifice patterns in colonic crypts.

Colonic polyps, which are abnormal growths in the colon, are a major concern in colon cancer diagnosis and prevention. Medical studies evidence that there is a correlation between histopathology and the shapes of the orifices in colonic crypts. We propose a biomathematical model for simulating the appearance of anomalous shapes for the orifices of colonic crypts, associated to an abnormal cell proliferation. It couples a mechanical model that is a mixed elastic/viscoelastic quasi-static model describing the deformation of the crypt orifice, with a convection-diffusion model that simulates the crypt cell dynamics in space and time. The coupling resides in the variation of pressure generated by abnormal proliferative cells that induce a mechanical force and originate the change in shape of the crypt orifice. Furthermore the model is formulated in a two-dimensional setting, for emulating the top view of the colonic mucosa, observed in vivo in colonoscopy images. The primary focus of this study is on the modeling of this complex biological phenomenon, by defining an appropriate reduced biomathematical model. Additionally, a numerical procedure to determine its solution is also addressed. The overall numerical simulations indicate that an excess of cell proliferation, in different crypt locations, creates some of the anomalous patterns of the colonic crypt orifices, observed in vivo in medical images.

A mathematical model for fitting and predicting relaxation modulus and simulating viscoelastic responses.

We propose a mathematical model for relaxation modulus and its numerical solution. The model formula is extended from sigmoidal function considering nonlinear strain hardening. Its physical meaning can be interpreted by a macroscale elastic network-viscous medium model with only five model parameters in a simpler format than the molecular-chain-based polymer models to represent general solid materials. We also developed a finite-element (FE) framework and robust numerical algorithm to implement this model for simulating responses under both static and dynamic loadings. We validated the model through both experimental data and numerical simulations on a variety of materials including asphalt concrete, polymer, spider silk, hydrogel, agar and bone. By satisfying the second law of thermodynamics in the form of Calusius-Duhem inequality, the model is able to simulate creep and sinusoidal deformation as well as energy dissipation. Compared to the Prony series, the widely used model with a large number of model parameters, the proposed model has improved accuracy in fitting experimental data and prediction stability outside of the experimental range with competitive numerical stability and computation speed. We also present simulation results of nonlinear stress-strain relationships of spider silk and hydrogels, and dynamic responses of a multilayer structure.

Consistent modeling of boundaries in acoustic finite-difference time-domain simulations.

The finite-difference time-domain method is one of the most popular for wave propagation in the time domain. One of its advantages is the use of a structured staggered grid, which makes it simple and efficient on modern computer architectures. A drawback, however, is the difficulty in approximating oblique boundaries, having to resort to staircase approximations. In many scattering problems this means that the grid resolution required to obtain an accurate solution is much higher than what is dictated by propagation in a homogeneous material. In this paper zero boundary data are considered, first for the velocity and then the pressure. These two forms of boundary conditions model perfectly rigid and pressure-release boundaries, respectively. A simple and efficient method to consistently model curved rigid boundaries in two dimensions was developed in Tornberg and Engquist [J. Comput. Phys. 227, 6922-6943 (2008)]. Here this treatment is generalized to three dimensions. Based on the approach of this method, a technique to model pressure-release surfaces with second order accuracy and without additional restriction on the timestep is also introduced. The structure of the standard method is preserved, making it easy to use in existing solvers. The effectiveness is demonstrated in several numerical tests.