Multiscale Characterization of Human Cortical Bone

Mechanical properties of cortical human bone have been investigated for more than four decades. Numerous experimental investigations on bone char- acterization were performed ; mechanical, vibrational, acoustical testing and mor- phological, physico-chemical investigations. Due to the techniques, different lev- els of investigation were performed and subsequently quantitative parameters are concerning different level of structure of bone (organ, tissue,. . . ). According to our knowledge, few investigations were performed simultaneously on mechani- cal, morphological and physico-chemical properties of bone. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the influence of multiscale structural characteris- tics of the bone tissue on its mechanical behavior and to provide some estimations from micro-macro numerical modelling based on our experimental data.