## Anisotropic Simulation of the Human Mandible

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-7873
• We focus on the role of anisotropic elasticity in the simulation of the load distribution in a human mandible due to a lateral bite on the leftmost premolar. Based on experimental evidence, we adopt local''" orthotropy of the elastic properties of the bone tissue. Since the trajectories of anisotropic elasticity are not accessible from Computer Tomographic (CT) data, they will be reconstructed from (i) the organ's geometry and (ii) from coherent structures which can be recognized from the spatial distribution of the CT values. A sensitivity analysis comprising various 3D FE simulations reveals the relevance of elastic anisotropy for the load carrying behavior of a human mandible: Comparison of the load distributions in isotropic and anisotropic simulations indicates that anisotropy seems to spare''" the mandible from loading. Moreover, a maximum degree of anisotropy leads to kind of an load minimization of the mandible, expressed by a minimum of different norms of local strain, evaluated throughout the organ. Thus, we may suggest that anisotropy is not only relevant, but also in some sense optimal''.