FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials2010; 4(1); 57-75; doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2010.09.006

Effects of age and loading rate on equine cortical bone failure.

Abstract: Although clinical bone fractures occur predominantly under impact loading (as occurs during sporting accidents, falls, high-speed impacts or other catastrophic events), experimentally validated studies on the dynamic fracture behavior of bone, at the loading rates associated with such events, remain limited. In this study, a series of tests were performed on femoral specimens obtained post-mortem from equine donors ranging in age from 6 months to 28 years. Fracture toughness and compressive tests were performed under both quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions in order to determine the effects of loading rate and age on the mechanical behavior of the cortical bone. Fracture toughness experiments were performed using a four-point bending geometry on single and double-notch specimens in order to measure fracture toughness, as well as observe differences in crack initiation between dynamic and quasi-static experiments. Compressive properties were measured on bone loaded parallel and transverse to the osteonal growth direction. Fracture propagation was then analyzed using scanning electron and scanning confocal microscopy to observe the effects of microstructural toughening mechanisms at different strain rates. Specimens from each horse were also analyzed for dry, wet and mineral densities, as well as weight percent mineral, in order to investigate possible influences of composition on mechanical behavior. Results indicate that bone has a higher compressive strength, but lower fracture toughness when tested dynamically as compared to quasi-static experiments. Fracture toughness also tends to decrease with age when measured quasi-statically, but shows little change with age under dynamic loading conditions, where brittle "cleavage-like" fracture behavior dominates.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2010-09-21 PubMed ID: 21094480DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2010.09.006Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research explored how the age of a horse and the speed at which force is applied affect the failure of bone in the horse’s leg. They found that bone is stronger but fractures more easily when force is applied quickly, and that as a horse ages, the bone becomes less tough under slow loading but doesn’t change under rapid loading.

Objective of the Research

The study aimed to fill in gaps in our understanding of bone fractures, which most often occur from impact loading such as in sporting accidents or falls. Despite these being the most common cause of fractures, few studies had tested how bone behaves under such rapid force application. It involved testing femoral samples from deceased horses aged between 6 months and 28 years.

Methodology

  • The researchers carried out fracture toughness and compressive tests under both slow (quasi-static) and rapid (dynamic) loading conditions. This helped determine how the speed of the force application and the bone’s age influenced its mechanical behaviour.
  • They used single and double-notch specimens in four-point bending geometry setups to measure fracture toughness and note differences in crack initiation between dynamic and quasi-static tests.
  • To measure compressive properties, the team applied force parallel and perpendicular to the direction of osteonal growth.
  • They utilized scanning electron and scanning confocal microscopy to analyze fracture propagation and study the impact of microstructural toughening mechanisms at different strain rates.
  • The team also analyzed specimens for dry, wet, and mineral densities and weight percent mineral to establish any effects of composition on mechanical behaviour.

Major Findings

  • The results indicated that bones demonstrated a higher compressive strength but lesser fracture toughness when tested dynamically compared to quasi-static tests. This suggests that bones can withstand more force but are more likely to fracture if the force is applied quickly.
  • The study also discovered that fracture toughness decreases with age under quasi-static conditions but remains consistent under dynamic loading. This finding shows that the aging process predominantly weakens the bone’s ability to resist fracturing under slow loading conditions, rather than under rapid ones.

Cite This Article

APA
Kulin RM, Jiang F, Vecchio KS. (2010). Effects of age and loading rate on equine cortical bone failure. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater, 4(1), 57-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2010.09.006

Publication

Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials
ISSN: 1878-0180
NlmUniqueID: 101322406
Country: Netherlands
Language: English
Volume: 4
Issue: 1
Pages: 57-75

Researcher Affiliations

Kulin, Robb M
  • Materials Science & Engineering Program, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0418, USA.
Jiang, Fengchun
    Vecchio, Kenneth S

      MeSH Terms

      • Aging / pathology
      • Aging / physiology
      • Animals
      • Biomechanical Phenomena
      • Bone Density
      • Bone and Bones / anatomy & histology
      • Bone and Bones / physiology
      • Collagen / metabolism
      • Compressive Strength
      • Elasticity
      • Femur / anatomy & histology
      • Femur / physiology
      • Fractures, Bone / pathology
      • Fractures, Bone / physiopathology
      • Fractures, Bone / veterinary
      • Horse Diseases / pathology
      • Horse Diseases / physiopathology
      • Horses / anatomy & histology
      • Horses / physiology
      • In Vitro Techniques
      • Microscopy, Confocal
      • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
      • Stress, Mechanical
      • Weight-Bearing

      Citations

      This article has been cited 11 times.
      1. Mouloodi S, Rahmanpanah H, Burvill C, Martin C, Gohari S, Davies HMS. How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Is Assisting Us to Extract Meaning from Data on Bone Mechanics?. Adv Exp Med Biol 2022;1356:195-221.
        doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-87779-8_9pubmed: 35146623google scholar: lookup
      2. Bandyopadhyay A, Traxel KD, Bose S. Nature-inspired materials and structures using 3D Printing. Mater Sci Eng R Rep 2021 Jul;145.
        doi: 10.1016/j.mser.2021.100609pubmed: 33986582google scholar: lookup
      3. Milazzo M, David A, Jung GS, Danti S, Buehler MJ. Molecular origin of viscoelasticity in mineralized collagen fibrils. Biomater Sci 2021 May 4;9(9):3390-3400.
        doi: 10.1039/d0bm02003fpubmed: 33949363google scholar: lookup
      4. Li F, Li J, Kou H, Huang T, Zhou L. Compressive mechanical compatibility of anisotropic porous Ti6Al4V alloys in the range of physiological strain rate for cortical bone implant applications. J Mater Sci Mater Med 2015 Sep;26(9):233.
        doi: 10.1007/s10856-015-5565-5pubmed: 26384823google scholar: lookup
      5. Lee KL, Baldassarri M, Gupta N, Pinisetty D, Janal MN, Tovar N, Coelho PG. Nanomechanical Characterization of Canine Femur Bone for Strain Rate Sensitivity in the Quasistatic Range under Dry versus Wet Conditions. Int J Biomater 2012;2012:415230.
        doi: 10.1155/2012/415230pubmed: 23365577google scholar: lookup
      6. Ural A, Zioupos P, Buchanan D, Vashishth D. Evaluation of the influence of strain rate on Colles' fracture load. J Biomech 2012 Jun 26;45(10):1854-7.
        doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2012.04.023pubmed: 22560644google scholar: lookup
      7. Wu Z, Ovaert TC, Niebur GL. Viscoelastic properties of human cortical bone tissue depend on gender and elastic modulus. J Orthop Res 2012 May;30(5):693-9.
        doi: 10.1002/jor.22001pubmed: 22052806google scholar: lookup
      8. Ural A, Zioupos P, Buchanan D, Vashishth D. The effect of strain rate on fracture toughness of human cortical bone: a finite element study. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2011 Oct;4(7):1021-32.
        doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2011.03.011pubmed: 21783112google scholar: lookup
      9. Fletcher L, Pierron F. Analysing the High Strain Rate Behaviour of Cortical Bone with the Image-Based Inertial Impact (IBII) Test. J Dyn Behav Mater 2025;11(4):562-583.
        doi: 10.1007/s40870-025-00478-6pubmed: 41425137google scholar: lookup
      10. Romanowicz GE, Zhang L, Bolger MW, Lynch M, Kohn DH. Beyond bone volume: Understanding tissue-level quality in healing of maxillary vs. femoral defects. Acta Biomater 2024 Oct 1;187:409-421.
        doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2024.08.042pubmed: 39214162google scholar: lookup
      11. Kulić M, Bagavac P, Bekić M, Krstulović-Opara L. Ex Vivo Biomechanical Bone Testing of Pig Femur as an Experimental Model. Bioengineering (Basel) 2024 Jun 5;11(6).
        doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11060572pubmed: 38927808google scholar: lookup
      Subscribe to our newsletter
      Join 100,129 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.