Effect of Body Fluid on Bovine Cortical Bone Fatigue

Abstract

Body fluid environment significantly enhances bone fatigue performance. In terms of fatigue mechanics, findings reveal that, for bone fatigue outside the body fluid environment, mean stress sensitivity is markedly higher than that of stress amplitude. However, for bone fatigue within the body fluid environment, stress amplitude notably affects fatigue performance only at lower mean stress levels. A bone fatigue model incorporating the influence of mean stress is proposed, with characteristic parameters that directly reflect the intrinsic properties of the bone material based on its elastic modulus. From the perspective of bone fatigue fracture, bone fatigue performance is associated with the fatigue initiation and crack propagation regions, where smoother fatigue initiation zones and gradually evolving crack propagation areas contribute to improved fatigue performance. This research helps to elucidate the mechanisms of bone fatigue damage and fracture resistance under constant mean load, both inside and outside body fluid environments.

Keywords: dense cortical bone, body fluid, mean stress, bone fatigue, Fracture