1Istituto di Tecnologie, Facolta di Ingegneria, Universita di Bari, 70126, Bari, Italy
2Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Mechanical Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401. U.S.A.
Abstract
This paper reports on the measurement of both tensile and fracture behavior of paired equine metacarpi. Tests were performed at strain rates of 10⁻⁴ sec⁻¹. Three-point bending tests were carried out on notched specimens to attain the toughness values and the same specimens were used to obtain the elastic moduli. The average fracture toughness was found to be constant from the proximal to the distal end. Both the anterolateral and anteromedical segments have fracture toughness that increases from the proximal to the distal zone. This trend is reversed in the posterior specimens. The fracture toughness was found to increase as a function of the number of discontinuities.