Help with composite medical device modeling (microcatheter)

[rjd150]

I'm trying to come up with a better way to prevent kinking when using my current microcatheter model (cylindrical tube with rebar reinforced shell elements) and the only way I can see accomplishing this is to try to model the real thing. Basically they are long polymer tubes with embedded metallic coils. Any suggestions on how to model this feature of the embedded coils? Or maybe, are there any ways to prevent kinking of long tubes other than by changing their mechanical properties? I attached a picture of what I am talking about. Thanks for the help!

 

[IceBreakerSours]

Either you are loading it in a way that might (I am guessing) introduce a kink even in the physical microcatherter or you need to modify the cross-sectional geometry (i.e., thickness, shell element thickness?) or the material property or increase the element size in the problematic region.

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=376

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=1083