Breaking Bones: Fracture and Repair in the Bones of Mammals and Insects

Bones achieve stiffness and strength through a combination of material properties and structural geometry. Unlike most engineering materials, they can be repaired by continuous biological processes. This talk will review some of the recent work in David Taylor's group, looking at fracture, damage and repair in two different types of bones: endoskeletal bones as found in mammals and other vertebrates, and the exoskeletal body parts of insects and other arthropods. Engineering concepts such as fracture mechanics and damage mechanics can be usefully employed to gain insights into how animals bones have evolved.