The nonlinear mechanical behavior of bone under high or repeated loading has long been recognized to involve the the accumulation of internal damage at one or more levels of its heirarchical structure. However, models describing the mechanical behavior have typically been along the lines of traditional engineering mechanics of materials. With the recent developments in continuum damage mechanics, the potential for more realistically modeling the nonlinear behavior as a damage accumulation process has begun to be explored. These models provide the potential to describe the evolution of the mechanical properties and more accurately predict the failure of bone under general loading. In addition, they may provide a framework for modeling the relationship between mechanical loading history and biological repair processes.
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