A new model to simulate the elastic properties of mineralized collagen fibril

Bone, because of its hierarchical composite structure, exhibits an excellent combination of stiffness and toughness, which is due substantially to the structural order and deformation at the smaller length scales. Here, we focus on the mineralized collagen fibril, consisting of hydroxyapatite plates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology 2011-04, Vol.10 (2), p.147-160
Main Authors: Yuan, Fang, Stock, Stuart R., Haeffner, Dean R., Almer, Jonathan D., Dunand, David C., Brinson, L. Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Animals
BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Bioengineering
Biological and Medical Physics
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Biophysics
COLLAGEN
Computer Simulation
DEFECTS
DEFORMATION
DIMENSIONS
Dogs
Elastic Modulus
ELASTICITY
Engineering
Fibrillar Collagens - chemistry
Finite Element Analysis
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FLEXIBILITY
Mineralogy
Minerals - chemistry
Models, Biological
MORPHOLOGY
Original Paper
PLATES
PROTEINS
Reproducibility of Results
Scattering, Small Angle
SIMULATION
Space life sciences
Stress, Mechanical
SYNCHROTRONS
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
WATER
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
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Summary:Bone, because of its hierarchical composite structure, exhibits an excellent combination of stiffness and toughness, which is due substantially to the structural order and deformation at the smaller length scales. Here, we focus on the mineralized collagen fibril, consisting of hydroxyapatite plates with nanometric dimensions aligned within a protein matrix, and emphasize the relationship between the structure and elastic properties of a mineralized collagen fibril. We create two- and three-dimensional representative volume elements to represent the structure of the fibril and evaluate the importance of the parameters defining its structure and properties of the constituent mineral and collagen phase. Elastic stiffnesses are calculated by the finite element method and compared with experimental data obtained by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The computational results match the experimental data well, and provide insight into the role of the phases and morphology on the elastic deformation characteristics. Also, the effects of water, imperfections in the mineral phase and mineral content outside the mineralized collagen fibril upon its elastic properties are discussed.
ISSN:1617-7959
1617-7940
DOI:10.1007/s10237-010-0223-9