Unlike bones and tendons, which need to be strong as well as elastic, the arteries and lungs need to be very stretchable. Three regions are shown: (1) toe region (2) linear region, and (3) failure region. Typical stress-strain curve for mammalian tendon. Ligaments (tissue connecting bone to bone) behave in a similar way. Examples of this are given in the problems at end of this chapter. A simple model of this relationship can be illustrated by springs in parallel: different springs are activated at different lengths of stretch. In the linear region, the fibrils will be stretched, and in the failure region individual fibers begin to break. In the first part of the stretch called the toe region, the fibers in the tendon begin to align in the direction of the stress-this is called uncrimping. Note that this stress-strain curve is nonlinear, since the slope of the line changes in different regions. Some tendons have a high collagen content so there is relatively little strain, or length change others, like support tendons (as in the leg) can change length up to 10%. Figure 5 shows a stress-strain relationship for a human tendon. Functionally, the tendon (the tissue connecting muscle to bone) must stretch easily at first when a force is applied, but offer a much greater restoring force for a greater strain. Overweight people have a tendency toward bone damage due to sustained compressions in bone joints and tendons.Īnother biological example of Hooke’s law occurs in tendons. Thus the bone in the top of the femur is arranged in thin sheets separated by marrow while in other places the bones can be cylindrical and filled with marrow or just solid. The bones in different parts of the body serve different structural functions and are prone to different stresses. Weight-bearing structures have special features columns in building have steel-reinforcing rods while trees and bones are fibrous. Bones are classified as weight-bearing structures such as columns in buildings and trees. The behaviour of bones under tension and compression is important because it determines the load the bones can carry.

Rather they generally fracture due to sideways impact or bending, resulting in the bone shearing or snapping.

Effects of temperature upon length might be important in these environments.īones, on the whole, do not fracture due to tension or compression. This is quite a stretch, but only about 0.6% of the unsupported length.

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