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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
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A Coupled Experiment-finite Element Modeling Methodology for Assessing High Strain Rate Mechanical Response of Soft Biomaterials
Published on: May 18, 2015
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Visco-hyperelastic material model fitting to experimental stress-strain curves using a genetic algorithm and its
Samuel Gómez-Garraza1, Raúl de Santos1, Diego Infante-García2
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. de la Universidad 30, 28911, Leganés, Madrid, Spain.
Scientific Reports
|August 4, 2024
Summary
This study calibrates a visco-hyperelastic model for soft tissue simulants using genetic algorithms. The developed method accurately determines material parameters for improved biomechanical simulations of ballistic impacts.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Materials Science
- Computational Modeling
Background:
- Non-penetrating ballistic impacts on the human thorax can cause severe injuries or fatalities.
- Accurate finite element models of soft tissues require capturing non-linear elasticity and strain-rate dependence for dynamic response estimation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To calibrate a visco-hyperelastic material model for soft tissue simulants.
- To determine material model parameters by fitting experimental stress-strain data using genetic algorithms.
Main Methods:
- Utilized genetic algorithms to fit experimental stress-strain data from literature.
- Performed parametric analyses to optimize the genetic algorithm's convergence and accuracy.
- Applied the calibrated algorithm to ballistic gelatin and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene simulants.
Main Results:
- The genetic algorithm accurately calculated constants for visco-hyperelastic constitutive equations.
- The semi-free strategy demonstrated high precision and reduced computational time for synthetic stress-strain curves.
- The semi-free relaxation time strategy yielded more accurate results and shorter convergence times.
Conclusions:
- The developed algorithm effectively calibrates visco-hyperelastic parameters from stress-strain data across various strain rates.
- Understanding constitutive models and stress-strain curve complexity is crucial for method accuracy.
- The provided code serves as a valuable tool for researchers calibrating visco-hyperelastic parameters.
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