Damien Subit, Carlos Arregui, Robert Salzar, Jeff Crandall Abstract As finite element models can be tailored to specific individual anthropometry, sex and age, there is a need for refined material properties. This study contributes to this effort by generating new data for the age‐ dependence in bone material properties in males. The left tibiae and femora were extracted from five male subjects aged 15 (pediatric subject), 37 and 40 (adult group), and 72 and 75 (elderly group). Small bone coupons were machined and tested under tensile load. The pediatric coupons (n = 15) were tested under quasi‐static loading (~ 0.5 %/s). For the adult and elderly subjects (n = 16), two coupons were harvested next to each other to create matched pairs: one was tested under quasi‐static loading and the other one was tested under dynamic loading (~ 100%/s). An optical stereophotogrametric non‐contact system was used to measure the strain field on the outermost surface of each coupon. The adult and elderly coupons were found to be elastic, with brittle fracture, and were on average 15 % more compliant in quasi‐static than in dynamic. The pediatric coupons exhibited an elasto‐plastic behaviour, and were on average 15 % more compliant that the adult coupons. Keywords age dependence, bone, coupon, full field strain measurements, quasi‐static and dynamic tensile tests I. INTRODUCTION Finite element models are developed to assist safety researchers and engineers to design new safety systems and evaluate their performance. Accessing the geometry of the human body is not a technical challenge anymore with the increased use of non‐invasive and non‐destructive medical imaging tools such as computed tomography and resonance imaging technologies [1,2]. This allows researchers to build geometrical models of the human body for various age and sex with the view to using them as a basis for the development of computational human body models. Element sizes have drastically dropped to allow for a very detailed reconstruction of the geometry of bony structures to include the cortical and trabecular bones. These refined finite element models can now capture small geometrical features such as the variation in the thickness of the cortical layer, and can be used to predict fracture. However, the bone material properties currently available, and in particular the age and rate sensitivity, have been mainly determined from compression tests [3] or based on tests where the strain in the bone was derived from the applied displacement rather than directly measured [4], or measured with a physical extensometer, a tool that is known to have slippage problems for high strain rate [5]. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to implement the use of an optical technique (digital image correlation) to measure strain in bone coupons with a non‐contact system, by carrying out a series of quasi‐static and dynamic tests on bone coupons harvested from the lower extremities of pediatric, adult and elderly human subjects. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Small bone samples were extracted from the shaft of the tibiae and femora of five post mortem human subjects (PMHS). Each sample was then tested under either quasi‐static or dynamic loadings, and the surface deformation was measured with a non‐contact optical system. Subjects information Five male PMHS were selected for this study (Table 1) based on the absence of pre‐existing fractures, lesions or other bone pathology, as confirmed by pre‐test computed tomography (CT) analysis. The cadavers were obtained and treated in accordance with the ethical guidelines established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and all testing and handling procedures were reviewed and approved by an independent oversight committee at the University of Virginia. Upon arrival, the PMHS were refrigerated (2˚C) for 8 to 32 D. Subit is a Senior Scientist at the University of Virginia - Center for Applied Biomechanics (UVA-CAB), Charlottesville, VA, USA (Ph: +1 434 296 7288 x 148, Fax: +1 434 296 3453, subit@virginia.edu), C. Aarregui is a Professor Lector (lecturer) at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain, R. Salzar is a Principal Scientist at UVa-CAB, J. Crandall is Professor at UVa and director of UVa-CAB. Pediatric, Adult and Elderly Bone Material Properties IRC-13-87 IRCOBI Conference 2013 - 760 -