Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Behavior of Bovine Bone Using Digital Image Correlation Technique

In order to understand the fracture mechanisms of bone subjected to external force well, an experimental study has been performed on the bovine bone by carrying out the three-point bending test with 3D digital image correlation (DIC) method, which provides a noncontact and full field of displacement measurement. The local strain and damage evolution of the bone has been recorded real time. The results show that the deflection measured by DIC agrees well with that obtained by the displacement sensor of the mechanical testing machine. The relationship between the deflection and the force is nearly linear prior to reaching the peak strength which is about 16 kN for the tested bovine tibia. The full-field strain contours of the bone show that the strain distribution depends on not only the force direction, but also the natural bone shape. The natural arched-shape bovine tibia bone could bear a large force, due to the tissue structure with high strength, and the fracture propagation process of the sample initiates at the inner side of the bone first and propagates along the force direction.