In this paper we will present a computational tool chain for simulating the outcome of the ostheogenetic distraction process of a maxillo-facial surgery.

The main tool of this tool chain is a parallel Finite Element code for non-linear, viscoelastic elasticity (FEBiNA), that has been developed at the C+C Labs.

The Finite Element meshes used for this maxillo-facial surgery simulation are based on patient specific tomography data and their geometry is highly complicated. In addition to that the material parameters for bony structures, like skull and teeth, differ by several orders of magnitude from those for the soft tissues of the human head. Finally, the latter materials are nearly incompressible.

Due to those difficulties, the systems of linear equations that have to be solved during the simulation process are severly maleconditioned. Our tests show that given our hardware environment, only multigrid methods can handle those systems within a reasonable solution time.

Nevertheless, the algebraic multigrid solvers we are using do not always show satisfying behaviour. We will show some numerical experiments and point out the arising problems we encountered during the linear solution phase.

By doing so, we hope to nurture a fruitful discussion on the use of algebraic multigrid methods for these kinds of problems.