To study the effect of strain rate on the acoustic emission amplitude signature of bone, bovine cortical bone was milled into standard tensile specimens which were tested at two different strain rates while being monitored with acoustic emission equipment.

It was demonstrated that the amplitude distribution of the acoustic events in bone is dependent on strain rate. Greater numbers of events occurred with the slower strain rate (0.0001 s⁻¹), but these events were of lower amplitude than those emitted during the more rapid strain rate (0.01 s⁻¹). The plot of the cumulative event amplitude distribution followed the power-law model, and the slope of this output, the b-value, represented a signature of the amplitude distribution. The mechanical test results were consistent with the behavior of a viscoelastic multi-phase composite material.