Rumiana Blagoeva

AN ANATOMICAL MODEL FOR STREAMING POTENTIALS IN OSTEONS

An anatomical model for streaming potentials in osteons is developed to characterize the electromechanical effect in bone. The model accounts for the microstructure of the osteon and is based upon first principles of electrochemistry, electrokinetics, continuum mechanics and fluid dynamics. Intra-osteonal potentials and their relaxation times are numerically evaluated. Many of the previously reported observations of potentials in osteons and across macroscopic specimens are explained for the first time in terms of an electrokinetic model. The cusp-like behavior of intra-osteonal potentials is explained, the dependence of the potentials on solution viscosity and conductivity is demonstrated, and insight is gained relative to the time dependence of stress generated potentials.

A discrete model for streaming potentials in a single osteon

A mathematical model for streaming potentials in an osteon is proposed, taking into account the microstresses in the vicinity of the Haversian Canal. With the help of the finite element method, a boundary problem for the fluid pressure amplitude in the osteon is investigated when the bone sample is subjected to harmonic loading. A numerical analysis of the intra-osteonal potential is performed. It is found that there exists an azimuthal asymmetry which increases with the enlargement of the Haversian Canal. The results of the numerical modeling of the intra-osteonal potential are in accordance with the available experimental data.

A problem for diffusion with relaxation in polymers

Abstract A nonlinear problem for penetrant diffusion with relaxation in polymers is considered. A numerical approach to solving this type of problems is developed. The proposed numerical scheme based on a finite element domain approximation and a time difference method can be used for numerical simulation of the considered penetrant diffusion in 2-D and 3-D domains. A numerical procedure and a corresponding computer code are created and tested for some examples in 1-D and 2-D domains.