Determination of replicate composite bone material properties using modal analysis

Isotropic cortical bone analogue material models failed to represent the experimental behavior in a satisfactory way even after updating the elastic material constants. When transversely isotropic material models were used, the updating procedure resulted in a reduction of the longitudinal Young's modulus from 16.00 GPa before updating to an average of 13.96 GPa after updating. The shear modulus was increased from 3.30 GPa to an average value of 3.92 GPa. The transverse Young's modulus was lowered from an initial value of 10.00 GPa to 9.89 GPa. Low inter- and intra-specimen variability was found.