Ultrasonic Method for Measuring Elastic Coefficients of Bone and Results on Fresh and Dried Bovine Bones

The elastic stiffness coefficients of dried bovine phalanx and femur and of fresh bovine phalanx were measured by an ultrasonic technique. An analysis of the electrical behavior and the crystallographic and morphological character of bone showed that it is a texture which has the same form of the elastic coefficient matrix as a hexagonal single crystal. The five elastic stiffness coefficients of fresh phalanx are: C11 = 1.97, C12 = 1.21, C13 = 1.26, C33 = 3.20, shear moduli as a function of direction were calculated.