Mechanical response and in-situ deformation mechanism of cortical bone materials under combined compression and torsion loads

PLoS One. 2022 Jul 27;17(7):e0271301. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271301. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Bone fracture is an extremely dangerous health risk to human. Actually, cortical bone is often subjected to the complicated loading patterns. The mechanical properties and deformation mechanism under the complicated loading pattern could provide a more precise understanding for the bone fracture. For this purpose, the mechanical response and multi-scale deformation mechanism of cortical bone material were investigated by in-situ experimental research using the compression-torsion coupling loads as an example. It was found that the torsion strength and shear modulus all decreased under the compression-torsion coupling loads than single torsion load. This indicated bone would suffer greater risk of fracture under the compression-torsion coupling loads. Based on in-situ observation, it was found that the rapid reduction of the anisotropy of bone material under the compression load was the potential influencing factor. Because of the redistribution of the principal strain and the variations of cracks propagation, the comprehensive fracture pattern containing both transverse and longitudinal fracture was shown under the coupling loads, and finally resulted in the reduction of the torsion properties. This research could provide new references for researches on mechanical properties of cortical bone material under complicated loading patterns.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anisotropy
  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Cortical Bone*
  • Fractures, Bone*
  • Humans
  • Stress, Mechanical

Grants and funding

This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52005009), Anhui Province Natural Science Funds for Youth Fund Project (2008085QE273), Anhui Province Key Research and Development Project (202004e11020003), Stabilize and introduce talent research funding project of Anhui Agricultural University (yj2019-22), Hefei City Research and development of key common technologies and engineering projects of major scientific and technological achievements (2021GJ019). Key Projects of Natural Science Research of Anhui Provincial Department of Education (KJ2021A0154, KJ2019A0172), Natural Science Youth Fund Project of Anhui Agricultural University (2019zd07).