The mechanical properties of bone tissue in children

1975/09/01 by JD Currey, J.D. Currey, G Butler +1 · 451 citations
Dentistry · Medicine · #Anatomy #Automotive and Human Injury Biomechanics #Bending #Bone density #Bone fractures and treatments #Bone health and osteoporosis research #Bone mineral content #Composite material #Cortical bone #Dentistry #Elasticity (physics) #Femoral bone #Femur #Flexural strength #Materials science #Medicine #Orthodontics #Osteoporosis #Pathology #Surgery #Young's modulus

paper · doi:10.2106/00004623-197557060-00015

published in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 57(6), 810-814 (Wolters Kluwer)

openalex publication_date 1975/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Specimens of femoral cortical bone from eighteen subjects between two and forty-eight years old were loaded in bending. Compared with the bone of adults, that of children had a lower modulus of elasticity, a lower bending strength, and a lower ash content. However, the children's bone deflected more and absorbed more energy before breaking. It also tended to absorb more energy after fracture had started. The typical greenstick fracture surface of many specimens of children's bone requires more energy for its production than the relatively smooth surface of adult specimens.

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