The effects of combined torsion and bending loads on fresh human cadaver femurs

This thesis explores the fracture patterns that result from different percentages of combined torsion and bending loads on human femurs. Eighteen matched pairs of femurs were extracted from fresh human cadavers and were subjected to either pure torsion or combined torsion and bending loads.; One femur from each matched pair was torqued to failure. The remaining femur from the pair was placed in one of two groups to be subjected to the combined loads. One group was to be twisted to 30% of the maximum torque of its matched pair then impacted with an instrumented steel pipe at approximately 9 m/s. The second group was torqued to 70% before it was impacted.; All of the pure torsion tests resulted in spiral fractures as expected. The specimens in the low torque group exhibited fracture patterns associated more with bending loads. Those in the high torque group exhibited a much more spiral pattern.