Mechanical Behaviour of Femoral Diaphyseal Cortical Bone using the Computed Tomography Data: A Numerical Investigation

In this paper, mechanical behaviour and buckling analysis of human femoral bone are performed using the finite element method. A method is proposed to model the geometry and mechanical properties of Femur specimens. Mechanical properties of the bone are regarded both as homogeneous and nonhomogeneous quantities. Compressive tests are performed in three regions of the midshaft to validate the mechanical properties obtained by the CT scan. Waterjet cutting method is used to cut the samples which are used in compressive tests, and the 3D-printed models are used to locate the samples between the jaws of the test machine. Critical axial buckling loads of the femurs are studied, applying both of the homogeneous and nonhomogeneous material properties. Results show that the buckling load which is obtained by proposed homogenous modeling technique is close to the one which is obtained by nonhomogeneous modeling, and the proposed method is quite capable to simplify the FE analysis of the diaphyseal cortical bone.