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Hill-type muscle models are highly preferred as phenomenological models for musculoskeletal simulation studies despite their introduction almost a century ago. The use of simple Hill-type models in simulations, instead of more recent cross-bridge models, is well justified since computationally ‘light-weight’—although less accurate—Hill-type models have great value for large-scale simulations. However, this article aims to invite discussion on numerical instability issues of Hill-type muscle models in simulation studies, which can lead to computational failures and, therefore, cannot be simply dismissed as an inevitable but acceptable consequence of simplification. We will first revisit the basic premises and assumptions on the force–length and force–velocity relationships that Hill-type models are based upon, and their often overlooked but major theoretical limitations. We will then use several simple conceptual simulation studies to discuss how these numerical instability issues can manifest as practical computational problems. Lastly, we will review how such numerical instability issues are dealt with, mostly in an ad hoc fashion, in two main areas of application: musculoskeletal biomechanics and computer animation.
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Multiscale Coupled Models for Complex Media: From Analysis to Simulation in Geophysics and Medicine
Many real-life applications require mathematical models at multiple scales, defined in domains with complex structures, some of which having time dependent boundaries. Mathematical models of this type are encountered in seemingly disparate areas e.g., flow and deformation in the subsurface or beneath the ocean floor, and in processes of clinical relevance. While the areas are different, the structure of the models and the challenges are shared: the analysis and simulation must account for the evolution of the domain due to the many coupled processes in the multi-scale context. The key theme and focus of the workshop were novel ideas in the mathematical modeling, analysis, and numerical simulation, which are cross-cutting between the two application areas mentioned above. The talks have covered the mathematical treatment of such problems, as well as the development of efficent numerical discretization schemes and of solvers for large-scale problems.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2011319
- PAR ID:
- 10583553
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oberwolfach Reports
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oberwolfach Reports
- Volume:
- 19
- Issue:
- 1
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 171 to 229
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Multiscale models Fluid-poroelastic structure interaction
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.4171/OWR/2022/4
