Mechanical properties of bovine cortical bone at high strain rate

Intense investigation has been performed to characterize static and dynamic mechanical properties of trabecular and cortical bone. The Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) technique has been applied with success in the study of mainly other engineering materials, and constitutive laws concerning the dynamical behaviour of these have been derived. This paper describes the characterization of mechanical properties of fresh bovine cortical bone at different high strain rate using the SHPB method. Cube specimens of dimensions 10 × 10 × 10 mm of bone were prepared according to longitudinal and transverse directions. The differences of results for ultimate strength (max. 281 MPa; min. 240 MPa), strain at fracture (max. 45.3 mm/m; min. 32.6 mm/m) and elastic modulus (max. 9.9 GPa; min. 6.8 GPa) in these directions were not statistically significant. Overall, for both longitudinal and transverse directions the elastic modulus decreased and the ultimate strength increased for higher strain rates.