Determination of Canine Long Bone Ultimate Tensile Strain by Digital Image Correlation

TL;DR

This study measures the ultimate tensile strain of canine long bones using Digital Image Correlation, providing essential mechanical data for finite element modeling of bone fracture behavior.

Contribution

It introduces the use of DIC to directly measure the ultimate tensile strain of canine long bones, filling a gap in species-specific mechanical data.

Findings

Ultimate tensile strain values obtained for canine long bones.

Differences observed between specimen types and testing scenarios.

Validation of DIC as an effective measurement technique.

Abstract

Creating finite element models for simulation of bone behaviour, fracture occurrence and propagation requires feeding the system with adequate mechanical data. To date, little is known about the mechanical behaviour of long canine bones, and in cases of modelling a bone-breakage scenario the ultimate strain at failure still needs to be determined. Extrapolation from human literature or other species is uninteresting as differences of mechanical properties between species are expected (Vahey et al, 1987) [1]. Our purpose was to measure the ultimate tensile strain of canine long bones by Digital Image Correlation (DIC), an optical technique to measure strain under load and a promising measurement method for our purpose. Tension tests of cortical bone strips and flexion tests of entire bones were performed, and the ultimate tensile strain was measured and compared between different specimen and testing scenarios.