COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATIONS OF OCULAR BLAST LOADING AND PREDICTION OF EYE INJURY RISK

摘要

Ocular injury from blast loading is associated with severe ocular morbidity and visual impairment [1]. Improvised explosive devices are a common cause of ocular injury and were responsible for 51 % of ocular war injuries in a study by Mader et al [2]. Finite element models such as the validated Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University (VT-WFU) Eye Model can be used to simulate blast loading to the eye [3]. This model is based on two spherical geometries forming chambers anterior and posterior to the lens, and includes Lagrangian and Eulerian meshes to accurately represent the mechanics of both solid and fluid interactions. The model has been updated from a quarter cylinder geometry to represent the entire eye and therefore does not require symmetry planes and will handle impact directions other than centered anterior-posterior impacts with radially symmetric objects [4]. The objective of the study was to use this model to simulate different blast scenarios and predict eye injury risk.