Geometrical Modelling Effects on FEA of Colorectal Surgery
The research reported in this paper applies an explicit non-linear FEA solver to
simulate the interaction between a clamp and a hyper-elastic material that aims to
mimic the biological tissue of the colon. More in detail, the paper provides new results
as a continuation of a previous works aimed at the evaluation of this solver to manage
contact and dynamic loading on complex, multiple shapes. Results concern with the
evaluation of the contact force during clamping, thus to the assessment of the forcefeedback.
The analysis is carried out on two geometries, using the hyper-elastic Mooney-Rivlin
model for the mechanical behavior of the soft tissues. A pressure is applied on the
colon to simulate the surgical clamp, which goes progressively in contact with tissue
surface. To assess FEA criticality, and, then, its feasibility, the stress-strain and the
contact force are analysed according to geometrical model and thickness variation,
leaving the pressure constant. Doing so, their effect on the force-feedback can be
foreseen, understanding their role on the accuracy of the final result.