Infant skull fractures align with the direction of bone mineralization.

ABSTRACT: The geometry and mechanical properties of infant skull bones differ significantly from those of adults. Over the past decades, debates surrounding whether fractures in infants come from deliberate abuse or accidents have generated significant impacts in both legal and societal contexts. However, the etiology of infant skull fractures remains unclear, which motivates this study with two main components of work. Firstly, we present and implement a progressive unidirectional fabric composite damage model for infant cranial vaults to represent ductile and anisotropic properties-two typical mechanical characteristics of infant skulls. Secondly, we hypothesize that these intrinsic material properties cause injuries perpendicular to the fiber direction to dominate infant skull fractures, resultin

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11846741 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature