title: Insights into the effects of tensile and compressive loadings on human femur bone.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fragile fractures are most likely manifestations of fatigue damage that develop under repetitive loading conditions. Numerous microcracks disperse throughout the bone with the tensile and compressive loads. In this study, tensile and compressive load tests are performed on specimens of both the genders within 19 to 83 years of age and the failure strength is estimated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty five human femur cortical samples are tested. They are divided into various age groups ranging from 19-83 years. Mechanical tests are performed on an Instron 3366 universal testing machine, according to American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM) standards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that stress induced in the bone tissue depends on age and gender. It is observed that both tensile and compression strengths reduces as age advances. Compressive strength is more than tensile strength in both the genders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The compression and tensile strength of human femur cortical bone is estimated for both male and female subjecting in the age group of 19-83 years. The fracture toughness increases till 35 years in male and 30 years in female and reduces there after. Mechanical properties of bone are age and gender dependent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Karnataka Lingayat Education Society's College of Engineering and Technology, Belgaum, India.
authors.forename: Raviraj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Havaldar
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karnataka Lingayat Education Society's College of Engineering and Technology, Belgaum, India.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Karnataka Lingayat Education University, Belgaum, India.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Putti
keywords: Age; compressive strength; cortical femur bone; tensile strength; young's modulus