The present endeavor numerically exploits the use of a phase-field model to
simulate and investigate fracture patterns, deformation mechanisms, damage, and
mechanical responses in a human vertebra after the incision of pedicle screws
under compressive regimes. Moreover, the proposed phase field framework can
elucidate scenarios where different damage patterns, such as crack nucleation
sites and crack trajectories, play a role after the spine fusion procedure,
considering several simulated physiological movements of the vertebral body. A
convergence analysis has been conducted for the vertebra-screws model,
considering several mesh refinements, which has demonstrated good agreement
with the existing literature on this topic. Consequently, by assuming different
angles for the insertion of the pedicle screws and taking into account a few
vertebral motion loading regimes, a plethora of numerical results
characterizing the damage occurring within the vertebral model has been
derived. Overall, the phase field results may shed more light on the medical
community, which will be useful in enhancing clinical interventions and
reducing post-surgery bone failure and screw loosening.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:2207.0936