Experimental study of damage and fracture of cancellous bone using a digital speckle correlation method

Cancellous bone is a widespread structure in a creatural body, for instance, in the femoral head and spondyle. The damage evolution and crack growth of cattle cancellous bone were studied under three-point-bending load conditions. A series of speckle images with deformation information surrounding the crack tip were recorded, and the full-field displacement distributions were obtained at different loading levels by means of digital speckle correlation method (DSCM). Characterizations of the damage deformation and fracture of cancellous bone were analyzed. These results provide some useful information for studying the fracture behavior of cancellous bone. (c) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.