The Effects of Different Mesh Density of the Cerebrospinal Fluid on the Dynamic Responses of a 6 Years Old Child Finite Element Head Model

Abstract

Biomechanically, one of the important roles of the cerebrospinal fluid playing is to provide effective damping against sudden intracranial brain motion during head impact. Thus, the mesh density of cerebrospinal fluid in finite element model needs to be studied because of its significant impact on the brain's biomechanical responses, such as relative displacement. This study based on a previous finite element head model of a 6 years old child developed and validated by the Tianjin University of Science and Technology. The effects of different mesh density of the cerebrospinal fluid on the relative displacement of the brain were studied. The thickness of cerebrospinal fluid remained unchanged but constructed into three layers and one layer of hexahedral elements. The results indicate that the relative displacements of skull-brain in two cases react to impact differently. Relative displacement is higher in the three layers CSF case than that of one layer. Rotational acceleration caused higher relative displacement than translational acceleration for both cases.