Effect of microstructure on trabecular-bone fracture: numerical analysis

Trabecular bone tissue with its complicated microstructural morphology can exhibit complex and random fracture patterns. This paper focuses on the effect of morphology of bone tissue on processes of its deformation and fracture. For this purpose, three-dimensional unit cells of trabecular bone tissue were generated based on the scans of human distal tibial bone obtained with high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT). Mechanical behavior of porous structure of trabecular bone was investigated under conditions of applied tensile and compressive loads employing a model of degradation of elastic properties, numerically implemented with finite-element analysis. The calculations were performed in Simulia Abaqus using the UMAT custom subroutine.