Dynamic viscoelastic response of bone

The dynamic stress-strain characteristics of beef-femur bone as a function of elapsed post-mortem time have been determined directly using the split-Hopkinson-bar technique. Specimens were fabricated from dense cortical material of the posterior part of the femoral midshaft and and subjected to dynamic compressive loading (1～6) × 10⁸ psi/sec covering a wide range of strain rates (10～450 sec^?1). Eighty-two test runs were conducted using 43 bone specimens for a range of post-mortem ages (1～240 days). A linear-viscoelastic model describing the mechanical behavior of bone was obtained, including an estimate of the parameters immediately after death.