Investigation on mechanical properties of contemporary metallic bone plates: towards the development of composite bone plates

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the mechanical properties of the contemporary metallic bone plates determining the effect of their length, width and thickness on the properties and compares with the composite bone plates. Three-points bending test was performed over the stainless steel plates of different length, width and thickness. The test results showed that different plates had different mechanical properties. However, the properties are still much higher than that of particular bones intended to be treated. Therefore, the reported findings strongly encourage developing composite bone plates with biocompatible polymers/fibers that would have modulated properties according to the requirements.