Nonuniformity of the strength properties of demineralized dense human bone tissue

Abstract

1. The values of the strength properties of demineralized dense human bone tissue are distributed nonuniformly over a transverse cross section through a bone. The highest values of the strength parameters are found in the front zones (1, 6), where also the highest pulling stresses develop upon exposure to normal physiological loads. The lowest values of the strength parameters were found in the back zones (3, 4) of a transverse cross section through the bone. 2. The nonuniformity of the distribution of the strength characteristics for demineralized tissue is similar to that of these properties for normal tissue for\(\bar \mu _{12}^*\) andσ11*. It is supposed that the nonuniformity of the limiting strengthσ11* is determined mainly by the organic matrix, but that the mineral phase only raises the numerical values of the strength. 3. A highly reliable linear correlation exists between the strength properties of the external and internal layers. Large correlation coefficients were found forσ11* and E1t* (r = 0.90 and 0.83).