Modelling fracture processes in bones 273
introduction of experimental fracture properties, none accounts for real
microstructural distributions and absence of models that relate the effect
of microstructural distributions to homogeneous media. In this work, an
attempt to ll these gaps was made.
9.3 Physical formulation and modelling methods
Though in vitro experiments provide large amounts of qualitative and quan-
titative data, still, FEM can enhance our understanding of fracture processes
in bones and provide information that cannot be achieved experimentally.
Thus, with reliable FE models, the time and cost of experimentation can be
reduced or eliminated. In this section, nite-element simulations of a frac-
ture process ...