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Figure 4 | BioMedical Engineering OnLine

Figure 4

From: Effect of trabecular bone loss on cortical strain rate during impact in an in vitro model of avian femur

Figure 4

Schematic description of the internal constraining effect that trabecular bone has on cortical bone, and its contribution to resisting impact loads. If loss of core trabecular bone exceeds a critical mass, lack of energy transfer pathways causes impact stresses and strains to concentrate locally close to the site of impact, and the hammer penetrates the cortex, as shown in the top frame. If less than a critical mass of trabecular bone was lost, and sufficient number of trabecular pathways still exist to transfer strain energy away from the site of impact, the cortex deforms as a whole, as in the bottom frame, and, although it may crack, no catastrophic failure occurs. In this latter case, as more strain energy is transferred to the opposite side of the cortex, a strain gauge fixed to that bone aspect will deform more and faster with respect to the first scenario.

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