NCSI: Numerical Study of 3D Printed Knee Joint Replacement (Apprentice Position)

Status	Completed
Mentor Name	Jun Li
Mentor's XSEDE Affiliation	Research Allocation
Mentor Has Been in XSEDE Community	3-4 years
Project Title	Numerical Study of 3D Printed Knee Joint Replacement (Apprentice Position)
Summary	Knee-joint replacement is a procedure of replacing an injured joint with an artificial one, or prosthesis to mimic the function of a knee. The replacement should be customized considering the patient's age, weight, activity level, and overall health. 3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), offers the advantage of producing parts with intricate shapes and geometries for patient-specific biomedical implants. However, AM introduces undesirable residual stresses, porosity, and the challenge of maintaining dimensional stability. This project aims to use numerical simulations to study shape distortions and mechanical functions of 3D printed knee-joint replacement.
Job Description	The student will apply open-source image processing software for X-ray CT image segmentation and visualizations of knee joints. The student will transform the reconstructed CT images to finite element models for computational analysis. The student will perform finite element simulations to predict shape distortions of 3D printed knee-joint replacement and investigate mechanical functions of the replaced knee-joint.
Computational Resources	We will start this project on a local HPC system with a reduced size model to let the students practice software packages and parallel methods. Then we plan to move to cloud-based XSEDE resources for a large size model. Since the image visualizations and analysis require interactive computing with large I/O and datasets, we will request Stampede 2 for this project. When time allows, we will further conduct performance tests on Stampede 2.
Contribution to Community	This project will train undergraduate students to do computational research of micro-CT image-based modeling and finite element simulations of knee-joint replacement. The project will contribute to a simulation workflow for evaluating 3D printed knee-joint replacements. It will also stimulate students' interest in developing large computational models that run on XSEDE clusters for practical applications.
Position Type	Apprentice
Training Plan	Training will be provided for the student to apply image process software such as open-source ImageJ or 3DSlicer packages for image segmentation/visualization. The student will learn to use commercial finite element analysis software Abaqus and 3DEXPERIENCE to simulate additive manufacturing processes and evaluate analysis outcomes. In addition, the student will be trained to be familiar with Linux operating system and High-performance computing environment.
Student Prerequisites/Conditions/Qualifications	Must have programming skills such as in Matlab or Python to develop user scripts. CAD modeling and FEA skills are desired to build finite element models and perform simulation analysis.
Duration	Semester
Start Date	01/18/2022
End Date	04/22/2022