A novel approach to assess post-yield energy dissipation of bone in tension

In this study, we proposed a novel approach to assess the energy dissipation during the post-yield deformation of bone. Based on the stress–strain behavior in an incremental and cyclic loading–unloading–reloading scheme in uniaxial tension, we partitioned the post-yield energy dissipation of bone into three distinct pathways: released elastic strain energy (Uer); irreversible energy (Ui); and hysteresis energy (Uh). Among them, Uer depends on the stiffness loss, Ui is the energy permanently consumed, and Uh reflects changes in the viscoelastic behavior of bone in the process of post-yield deformation. As an example, bone specimens from human cadaveric femurs of middle-aged and elderly donors were tested using this approach. The results of this study indicate that there exist age-related differences in post-yield energy dissipation and modulus degradation. These results implicate that this novel approach could detect the age-related differences in energy dissipation of bone and may aid in understanding the underlying mechanisms of such changes.