title: The effect of material modeling on finite element analysis of human breast biomechanics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Finite element analysis has been used extensively in the study of biomechanical modeling of the breast. However, issues regarding the complexity of material models and the influences of geometric boundary conditions on the accuracy of a breast Finite Element (FE) model are still under debate. This work demonstrates the importance of material modeling in FE models of the breast.
  
  
  METHODS
  A simple hemispherical geometry is used to model the shape of a human breast. Different material models are being investigated to accurately model changes in terms of displacement, stress, and reaction forces distribution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results obtained using nonlinear material models are compared with those obtained employing their linear approximation. Results have shown that differences, in terms of displacement, ranging between 20% and more than 80%, may occur and that large differences are present in terms of maximum principal stresses when the displacement is correctly approximated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study clearly shows that, in a FE model, simulating large deformations material modeling strongly influences the accuracy of the solution.
authors.affiliation: Mechanics of Materials and Constructions (MeMC), Vrije Univeristeit Brussel, Brussels - Belgium and Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels - Belgium.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sol
authors.forename: Hichem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sahli
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adriaenssens
authors.forename: Nele
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adriaenssens
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological