MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES AND THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF BONE

Detailed descriptions of the structural features of bone abound in the literature: however, the mechanical properties of bone, in particular those at the micro- and nano-structural level, remain poorly understo od. This paper surveys the mechanical data that are available, with an emphasis on the relationship between the complex hierarchical structu re of bone and its mechanical properties. Attempts to predict the mech anical properties of bone by applying composite rule of mixtures formu lae have been only moderately successful, making it clear that an accu rate model should include the molecular interactions or physical mecha nisms involved in transfer of load across the bone material subunits. Models of this sort cannot be constructed before more information is a vailable about the interactions between the various organic and inorga nic components. Therefore, further investigations of mechanical proper ties at the 'materials level', in addition to the studies at the 'stru ctural level' are needed to fill the gap in our present knowledge and to achieve a complete understanding of the mechanical properties of bo ne. (C) 1998 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.