Hydration and radiation effects on the residual stress state of cortical bone

The change in the biaxial residual stress state of hydroxyapatite crystals and collagen fibrillar structure in sections of bovine cortical bone has been investigated as a function of dehydration and radiation dose using combined small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. It is shown that dehydration of the bone has a pronounced effect on the residual stress state of the crystalline phase, while the impact of radiation damage alone is less dramatic. In the initial hydrated state, a biaxial compressive stress of approximately −150 MPa along the bone axis exists in the hydroxyapatite crystals. As water evaporates from the bone material, the stress state moves to a tensile state of approximately 100 MPa. The collagen fibrillar structure is initially in a tensile residual stress state when the bone is hydrated and the state increases in magnitude slightly with dehydration. Radiation dose in continually hydrated samples also reduces the initial biaxial compressive stress magnitude in the hydroxyapatite phase; however, the stress remains compressive. Radiation exposure alone does not appear to affect the stress state of the collagen fibrillar structure.