Abstract
The fracture toughness, K IC, of a cortical bone has been experimentally determined by several researchers. The variation of K IC values occurs from the variation of specimen orientation, shape, and size during the experiment. The fracture toughness of a cortical bone is governed by the severest flaw and, hence, may be analyzed using Weibull statistics. To the best of the authors' knowledge, however, no studies of this aspect have been published. The motivation of the study is the evaluation of Weibull parameters at the circumferential-longitudinal (CL) and longitudinal-circumferential (LC) directions. We hypothesized that Weibull parameters vary depending on the bone microstructure. In the present work, a two-parameter Weibull statistical model was applied to calculate the plane-strain fracture toughness of bovine femoral cortical bone obtained using specimens extracted from CL and LC directions of the bone. It was found that the Weibull modulus of fracture toughness was larger for CL specimens compared to LC specimens, but the opposite trend was seen for the characteristic fracture toughness. The reason for these trends is the microstructural and extrinsic toughening mechanism differences between CL and LC directions bone. The Weibull parameters found in this study can be applied to develop a damage-mechanics model for bone.
Highlights
IntroductionThe fracture toughness of bone varies depending on sampling site and the initial crack orientation of fracture test samples with respect to the applied load
The orientation of the specimen used in the fracture test was based on fracture propagation direction with respect to the long axis of the bone
The analysis found that over 24 samples provide a 95% confident estimate of fracture toughness for CL and LC specimens with an error of 0.04 from their population mean
Summary
The fracture toughness of bone varies depending on sampling site and the initial crack orientation of fracture test samples with respect to the applied load. Researchers prepared specimen in different orientations to measure fracture toughness [1,2,3,4]. The orientation of the specimen used in the fracture test was based on fracture propagation direction with respect to the long axis of the bone. There were two types of specimen considered for the measurement of fracture toughness: longitudinal cracking specimen and transverse cracking specimen. Circumferential-longitudinal (CL) and longitudinal-circumferential (LC) direction specimen are categorized as longitudinal cracking and transverse cracking specimen, respectively (Figure 1). Crack orientation of a specimen was classified according to crack plane during fracture toughness testing. The first letter represents a normal direction to the created crack plane; the second letter represents the expected direction of crack propagation [5]
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