INTERSECTANT MICROSTRUCTURE OF HYDROXYAPATITE SHEETS OF SHANKBONE

Bone possesses excellent mechanical properties, which are closely related to its favorable microstructures optimized by nature through millions of years. In this work, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the microstructures of a shankbone. It showed that the bone is a kind of bioceramic composite consisting of hydroxyapatite layers and collagen protein matrix. The hydroxyapatite layers are further composed of long and thin hydroxyapatite sheets. The hydroxyapatite sheets in different hydroxyapatite layers distribute along different orientations, which composes a kind of intersectant microstructure. The maximum pullout force of the intersectant microstructure was investigated and compared with that of 0° microstructure with their representative models. The result indicated that the maximum pullout force of the intersectant microstructure is markedly larger than that of the 0° microstructure, which was experimentally verified.