Computational Biomechanics and Solid Mechanics Laboratory

The Computational Biomechanics and Solid Mechanics Laboratory, led by Dr. Ani Ural, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is focused on understanding the mechanical response and failure processes in biological and engineering structures using finite element modeling.  Primary research areas include:

• Failure and fracture response of bone at multiple scales, ranging from submicro- to macroscale
• Mechanical behavior of man-made engineering materials, including but not limited to biomimetic materials. These projects range from evaluating new material systems to understanding existing biological structures to serve as templates for new man-made materials.

All projects involve the use of finite element modeling, which is a powerful tool that has the potential to improve the understanding of mechanical processes in different material systems that cannot be evaluated by experimental studies.

Currently, our main focus is on developing a mechanistic understanding of bone fracture using computational modeling with an ultimate goal of addressing skeletal diseases such as osteoporosis. Osteoporotic and age-related fractures are a significant public health problem. There has been an increasing emphasis on bone’s hierarchical structure and its influence on the fracture response of bone.