Plasticity and toughness in bone

2009/06/01 by Robert O. Ritchie, Markus J. Buehler, Paul Hansma +1 · 368 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Medicine · #Bone Tissue Engineering Materials #Bone health and osteoporosis research #Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition #Composite material #Materials science #Plasticity #Toughness

paper · open access · doi:10.1063/1.3156332

published in Physics Today 62(6), 41-47 (AIP Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Our bones are full of microscopic cracks, but the hierarchical character of the bones’ structure—from molecular to macroscopic scales—makes them remarkably resistant to fracture.

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