Fatigue properties of bovine compact bones that have different microstructures

Understanding the mechanism of fatigue crack propagation in bones is important because fatigue is probably the main cause of clinical stress fractures. Here, fatigue crack initiation and propagation behaviors of bovine humerus and femur regarding microstructures were investigated by the replica method. Fatigue tests were conducted to obtain SN curves of these compact bones. Both these bones are made up of haversian and plexiform, bones, classified by their microstructures. The crack propagation rate is faster when the microstructure is inclined to the bone axis than when parallel. The fatigue strength of plexiform bone is higher than that of haversian bone. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.