Dynamical Study of Couple Stress Effects in Human Compact Bone

Abstract

Torsional resonance experiments performed on wet human compact bone disclose effects due to couple stress. The characteristic length, which is an additional material coefficient which appears in couple-stress theory, is of the order of the size of osteons and appears to be smaller at high frequencies than at low frequencies. The presence of couple-stress effects implies a reduction in the stress concentration factor around holes, particularly small holes.