Vibrational Analysis of Human Femur Bone

Femur bone is the longest and largest bone in the human skeleton. This bone connects the pelvic bone to the knee and carries most of the body weight. The static behavior of femur bone has been a center of investigation for many years while little attention has been given to its dynamic and vibrational behavior, which is of great importance in sports activities, car crashes and elderly falls. Investigation of natural frequencies and mode shapes of bone structures are important to understand the dynamic and vibrating behaviors. Vibrational analysis of femoral bones is presented using finite element method. In the analysis, the bone was modeled with isotropic and orthotropic mechanical properties. The effect of surrounding bone muscles has also been accounted for as a viscoelastic medium embedding the femur bone. Natural frequencies extracted considering the effects of age aggravated by weakening the elastic modulus and density loss. The effects of real complex bone geometry on natural frequencies are studied and are compared with a simple circular cross-sectional model.