Fragility Assessment of Bovine Cortical Bone Using Scratch Tests

Summary

This study assesses the fracture toughness of bovine cortical bone at the sub-meso levels using microscopic scratch tests. This is an original, objective, rigorous, and reproducible method proposed to probe fracture toughness below the macroscopic scale. Potential applications are studying changes in bone fragility due to diseases like osteoporosis.

Abstract

Bone is a complex hierarchical material with five distinct levels of organization. Factors like aging and diseases like osteoporosis increase the fragility of bone, making it fracture-prone. Owing to the large socio-economic impact of bone fracture in our society, there is a need for novel ways to assess the mechanical performance of each hierarchical level of bone. Although stiffness and strength can be probed at all scales – nano-, micro-, meso-, and macroscopic – fracture assessment has so far been confined to macroscopic testing. This limitation restricts our understanding of bone fracture and constrains the scope of laboratory and clinical studies. In this research, we investigate the fracture resistance of bone from the microscopic to the mesoscopic length scales using micro scratch tests combined with nonlinear fracture mechanics. The tests are performed in the short longitudinal orientation on bovine cortical bone specimens. A meticulous experimental protocol is developed and a large number (102) of tests are conducted to assess the fracture toughness of cortical bone specimens while accounting for the heterogeneity associated with bone microstructure.

Introduction

In this study, we measure the fracture toughness of bovine compact bone from the mesoscale (osteons) to the microscale (lamellar level) using a novel micro scratch technique^1,2,3,4,5. Fracture processes including crack initiation and crack propagation in bone are directly influenced by length scales owing to the different structural constituents and organization at different levels of hierarchy. Therefore, assessing bone fracture at smaller length scales is essential to yielding a fundamental understanding ....

Protocol

NOTE: The protocol described here, follows the animal care guidelines of the Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

1. Specimen Procurement

1. Collect freshly harvested bovine femurs from a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-certified slaughterhouse and transport them in plastic air tight bags in a cooler.
   NOTE: For the study conducted here, femurs were collected from animals that were 24 - 30 months old, corn-fed, and weighed about 1,000 - 1,100 pounds.
2. Freeze the femurs at -20 °C until the start of the specimen preparation procedure. This temperature keeps the femurs fresh....

Results

Atomic force microscopy was used to measure the roughness of the polished surface. As a rule of thumb, the specimen qualifies as a well-polished one if the surface roughness is an order of magnitude smaller than the surface features of interest. In this case, the measured surface roughness of 60 nm over a 40 µm x 40 µm area clearly falls within this criterion.

Figure 4 shows the force versus penetra.......

Discussion

Micro scratch tests induce a mixed-mode fracture³. Furthermore, in the short longitudinal bovine cortical bone specimens, fracture processes are activated as the probe digs deeper. For a 3-mm long scratch, the prismatic volume probed is around 3,600 µm long, 600 µm wide, and 480 µm deep. This large volume helped in predicting a homogenized response. A non-linear fracture mechanics model enabled us to extract the fracture resistance based on the J-integral calculation

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Table Top Diamond Band Saw	McMaster Carr, Elmhurst, IL	Model  C-40	Blade speed of 40 mph; Blade dimensions: 37 inch in diameter, 0.02 inch wide and 0.14 inch deep
Buehler Isomet 5000 Precision Cutter	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	112780	Blade speed in the range of 200-5000 rpm in 50 rpm incrments; 8 inch diamond wafering blade
Branson 5800 Ultrasonic Cleanser	(Through) Grainger, Peoria, Illinois	39J365	Bransonic CPXH ultrasonic bath has a tank capacity of 2.5 gal
Buehler Ecomet 250 Grinder - Polisher	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	497250	8 inch base plate with a speed range from 10-500 rpm
Anton Paar, CSM Instruments Micro scratch tester	Anton Paar Switzerland AG	163251	Compact Platform, Acoutstic Emission Sensor
JEOL 6060LV general purpose scanning electron microscope	JEOL USA, Inc., Peabody, MA		Environmental scanning electron microscope which enables imaging at low vacuum levels.
Philips XL30 ESEM FEG	FEI Company		Wet mode working of the instrument enables imaging of non conductive samples without altering them
Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Consumables
Bovine Femur	L&M Slaughter house, Georgetown, IL		Corn fed, 24-30 month old mature bovine specimens.
Alconox Powdered Precision Cleaner	Alconox, Inc., 30 Glenn St., Ste. 309, White Plains, NY, 10603	1104-1	Biodegradable, Non caustic, Interfering-residue free
Acrylic Plastic Casting	Electron Microscopy Sciences	24210-02	Polymethyl Methacrylate
CarbiMet SiC Abrasive Paper 400 grit, 8 inch, PSA backed	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	36080400	Grinding - Abrasive Papers
CarbiMet SiC Abrasive Paper 600 grit, 8 inch, PSA backed	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	36080600	Grinding - Abrasive Papers
MicroCut Discs 800 grit, 8 inch, PSA backed	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	36080800	Grinding - Abrasive Papers
MicroCut Discs 800 grit, 8 inch, PSA backed	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	16081200	Grinding - Abrasive Papers
Texmet P For 8'' Wheel PSA	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	407638	Polishing Cloth
8'' Microcloth PSA	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	407518	Polishing Cloth
Meta Di Supreme Polycrystalline Diamond Suspension, 3 µm	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	406631	Polishing suspension
Meta Di Supreme Polycrystalline Diamond Suspension, 1 µm	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	406630	Polishing suspension
Meta Di Supreme Polycrystalline Diamond Suspension, 0.25 µm	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	406629	Polishing suspension
MasterPrep Polishing Suspension, 0.05µm	Buehler,41 Waukegan Rd, Lake Bluff, IL 60044	40-6377-032	Polishing suspension
HBSS, calcium, magnesium, no phenol red	Thermo Fisher Scientific	14025126	Buffer Solution