title: Micromechanical modeling of elastic properties of cortical bone accounting for anisotropy of dense tissue.
abstract: The paper analyzes the connection between microstructure of the osteonal cortical bone and its overall elastic properties. The existing models either neglect anisotropy of the dense tissue or simplify cortical bone microstructure (accounting for Haversian canals only). These simplifications (related mostly to insufficient mathematical apparatus) complicate quantitative analysis of the effect of microstructural changes - produced by age, microgravity, or some diseases - on the overall mechanical performance of cortical bone. The present analysis fills this gap; it accounts for anisotropy of the dense tissue and uses realistic model of the porous microstructure. The approach is based on recent results of Sevostianov et al. (2005) and Saadat et al. (2012) on inhomogeneities in a transversely-isotropic material. Bone's microstructure is modeled according to books of Martin and Burr (1989), Currey (2002), and Fung (1993) and includes four main families of pores. The calculated elastic constants for porous cortical bone are in agreement with available experimental data. The influence of each of the pore types on the overall moduli is examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salguero
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saadat
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. Electronic address: igor@nmsu.edu.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sevostianov
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology*; D004548:Elasticity; D006253:Haversian System / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D016062:Porosity
keywords: Anisotropy; Cortical bone; Elastic properties; Microstructure