ABSTRACT
The bones in our skeleton must meet a diverse set of functional demands, not all of which are mechanical in nature. Yet, even without detailed consideration of the biological functions of bone as an organ system and of the bone tissues that are the main constituent of whole bones, the biomechanical behavior of bone is a multifaceted, broad subject that is relevant to the study of clinical fractures, bone development, bone adaptation, and bone healing and regeneration. This chapter provides a foundation for all these topics by summarizing the current state of knowledge on the basic mechanical behavior of bone at length scales ranging from hundreds of nanometers to tens of centimeters. However, because the focus of much of the bone mechanics literature is on age-related bone fractures, many of the concepts and data that are presented are most readily connected to the study of how and when bones fail. This chapter is not the rst to review bone biomechanics, and our intent is to emphasize the basic concepts and to highlight the recent advances. Some descriptions of methodological approaches and practical considerations are included, but given the scope and depth of the body of research on bone biomechanics, we refer the reader, when possible, to more specialized reviews of these particular concepts. Similarly, this chapter does not review the state of the art in bone mechanobiology or the biomechanics of fracture healing, as specic reviews in these areas have been published recently.1-5
This chapter is divided into ve sections. The rst presents basic concepts that are fundamental to understanding how to study bone as a mechanically functional structure and material. Next, we present a brief summary of the hierarchical structure and composition of bone as they relate to the study of bone mechanics. We then focus sequentially on the mechanical behaviors of bone tissue and whole bones. The nal section concludes the chapter with a synthesis of the critical concepts and a list of key areas for future research.
