A BIO-CHEMO-MECHANICS APPROACH TO BONE RESORPTION AND FRACTURE

Abstract eng:
In this paper, we develop a biochemomechanics theory, which allows the integration of a biological process orchestrated by cells into a chemomechanics framework. The derivation is based on first principles of thermodynamics and is developed around the modeling of bone resorption. We show that the driving force of the process involves three quantities: a biologically generated chemical potential, developed by the cell on the solid surface; the chemical potential of the solid mineral; and, finally, the strain energy stored in the solid phase. Orders of magnitude of these three quantities are evaluated using existing data. It is shown that the average strain energy is some orders of magnitude smaller than the BGP. However, in the immediate surrounding of cracks, the strain energy increases due to stress concentrations to 10-50% of the BGP. In the course of remodeling events, we propose that this chemomechanical coupling is a nonrandom remodeling stimulus, helping repair damage in bone, which at the same time reduces the risk of crack propagation.

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