Tensile testing of rodlike trabeculae excised from bovine femoral bone

Individual trabeculae, rodlike in form, were excised from bovine femora and tested in tension to obtain stress-strain plots. Tensile grips were constructed to permit such small specimens to be tested and to avoid slippage during the test. Data were collected for 38 specimens. The results of these tests show that rodlike trabeculae obtained from the femora of young bovine animals have an average Young's modulus in tension of approximately 1 GPa. This value is an order of magnitude lower than the corresponding value for cortical bone in the diaphysis of the femur.