Anisotropy in the compressive mechanical properties of bovine cortical bone and the mineral and protein constituents

The mechanical properties of fully demineralized, fully deproteinized and untreated cortical bovine femur bone were investigated by compression testing in three anatomical directions (longitudinal, radial and transverse). The weighted sum of the stress–strain curves of the treated bones was far lower than that of the untreated bone, indicating a strong molecular and/or mechanical interaction between the collagen matrix and the mineral phase. Demineralization and deproteinization of the bone demonstrated that contiguous, stand-alone structures result, showing that bone can be considered an interpenetrating composite material. Structural features of the samples from all groups were studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Anisotropic mechanical properties were observed: the radial direction was found to be the strongest for untreated bone, while the longitudinal one was found to be the strongest for deproteinized and demineralized bones. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is the difference in bone microstructure in the radial and longitudinal directions.