Bone: Bone as a Structural Material (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 9/2015)

On page 1287, E. A. Zimmermann and R. O. Ritchie discuss how human cortical bone's hierarchical structure resists deformation and crack growth through physics-based mechanisms at small and large length-scales, which are essential to resist fracture. Using synchrotron micro-computed tomography, the three-dimensional structure of human cortical bone, with its vascular canals at the center of each osteon (in green), can be observed resisting the propagation of a crack (in yellow) through crack-tip shielding mechanisms, such as uncracked ligament bridging.