Interaction of microstructure and microcrack growth in cortical bone: a finite element study

Abstract

Microstructural features including osteons and cement lines are considered to play an important role in determining the crack growth behaviour in cortical bone. This study aims to develop a computational mechanics approach to evaluate microscale fracture mechanisms in bone. In this study, finite element models based on actual human cortical bone images that allow for arbitrary crack growth were utilised to determine the crack propagation behaviour. The simulations varied the cement line and osteon strength and fracture toughness in different bone microstructures to assess the crack propagation trajectory, stress–strain relationship and nonlinear strain energy density. The findings of this study provide additional insight into the individual influence of microstructural features and their properties on crack growth behaviour in bone using a computational approach.

Keywords:

• microstructure
• cement line
• osteon
• cohesive finite element modelling
• microcrack growth

Acknowledgements

The human microscopy images were obtained by one of the authors (AU) at Prof. Deepak Vashishth's laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.