Thermoelectroelastic solutions for internal bone remodeling under axial and transverse loads

Internal bone remodeling of inhomogeneous materials is studied both theoretically and numerically in this paper. Two solutions are presented for analyzing thermoelectroelastic problems of internal bone remodeling subjected to coupled axial force, external lateral pressure, electric and thermal loads. Though all bone is heterogeneous, assumption of homogeneity is made to entail a smoothing over features such as osteons, lamellae, fibers, and other structural elements, so that a continuum representation can be obtained. A semi-analytical solution is also presented for analyzing inhomogeneous cases. Numerical results are presented to verify the proposed formulation and to show the effects of mechanical, thermal and electric loads on bone remodeling process. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.