ABSTRACT
Bone is as structure that is extensively studied. Many studies attempt to understand the mechanical behaviour of bone tissue. One key factor to fully understand and predict its structural response is the accurate determination of its mechanical properties. As the bone morphology changes (resulting from bone adaptation to external loads), bone tissue mechanical properties change as well. Therefore, its estimation is a never-ending challenging task. In this work, it was developed a methodology that allows, using medical images of micro-CT, to define the mechanical properties of trabecular bone, based on its morphological structure. This methodology uses the fabric tensor concept and a phenomenological material law to estimate the mechanical properties. The developed methodology as overall error of 2% upon the detection of trabecular bone material principal direction.
