Biomechanical Design in Osteogenic Engineering

The bone is a naturally occurring composite system comprising collagen matrix and hydroxyapatites capable of generating sufficient strength and toughness to support mechanical loads and resist fracture,respectively.The material strength depends largely on the elastic properties,whereas the toughness depends on not only the elastic,but also the plastic properties.Thus,both elastic and plastic properties must be considered in the analysis of bone biomechanics and the design of osteogenic materials.The bone is capable of optimizing its elastic and plastic properties by integrating stiff hydroxyapatites and ductile collagen fibrils into a hierarchically ordered architecture,an effective mechanism to support the bone strength and toughness.Such a mechanism can be used as a model for designing osteogenic materials.