Determination of Mechanical Properties of the
Bones of the Skull
Paper is concerned with experimental procedures and
results obtained in tension, compression and shear tests
carried out on human skull bone
by D. H.. Robbins and J. L. Wood
ABSTRACT---This paper presents the initial results of a
research project concerning the mechanism of head in-
jury. In order to begin to define the mechanism, it is
necessary to determine mechanical properties of the
various skull bones, organize them into constitutive equa-
tions, and develop a structural model of the skull.
The material presented is concerned primarily with the
development of experimental procedures and the results
which have been obtained. The specimen-testing pro-
gram has been split into four parts: (1) The procural of
3/4-in. and ll/2-in.-diam plugs from human skulls at
autopsy and the precise determination of specimen loca-
tion and orientation; (2) the fabrication and strain
gaging of small test specimens for basic tension, com-
pression, tension-compression, and shear tests; (3) the
conducting of tests; and (4) the correlation of experi-
mental findings with microscopic structure by standard
and nonstandard techniques of histology.
Introduction
A c u r r e n t research p r o j e c t at t h e H i g h w a y S a f e t y
R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e is concerned w i t h t h e d e t e r m i n a -
t i o n of m a t e r i a l p r o p e r t i e s of t h e bones of t h e skull.
T h i s is p a r t of an effort with t h e end o b j e c t i v e of
f a b r i c a t i n g p h y s i c a l a n d a n a l y t i c a l models which
can be used to s i m u l a t e h e a d - i n j u r y mechanisms.
S e v e r a l questions m u s t be considered in develop-
ing a p r o g r a m for t e s t i n g m a t e r i a l of this t y p e .
W h a t sources are a v a i l a b l e for o b t a i n i n g m a t e r i a l ?
H o w is a m a t e r i a l s t o r e d which suffers p h y s i c a l a n d
chemical changes w i t h time? H o w are conven-
t i o n a l or n o n c o n v e n t i o n a l m a t e r i a l t e s t p r o c e d u r e s
a d a p t e d for this m a t e r i a l ? D o t h e bones of t h e
skull b e h a v e as an isotropic, linear, elastic m a t e r i a l
and, if not, w h a t p r o p e r t i e s m u s t be a d d e d to t h e
list for consideration?
D. H. Robbins is Research Engineer and J. L. Wood is Graduate Research
Assistant, Highway Safety Research Institute, University of M ichigan, A n n
Arbor, Mich.
Paper was presented at 1968 S E S A Spring Meeting held in Albany, N. Y.,
on M a y 7-10.
236 I May 1969
T h e p u b l i s h e d l i t e r a t u r e does not offer a com-
plete set of answers to these questions. T h e re-
view sources 1-4 which are concerned in t o t a l or
in p a r t with t h e m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of h a r d
tissues refer o n l y once to t e s t s which h a v e been
carried out on t h e bones of t h e h u m a n skull.
E v a n s and L i s s n e P h a v e r e p o r t e d on t h e tensile a n d
compressive s t r e n g t h s of e m b a l m e d h u m a n p a r i e t a l
bone. D e m p s t e r 6 has asserted on t h e basis of
split-line analysis t h a t a large p o r t i o n of the skull
possesses a r a n d o m grain s t r u c t u r e .
On t h e o t h e r h a n d e x p e r i m e n t a l studies of t h e
m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of other skeletal c o m p o n e n t s
h a v e a long h i s t o r y d a t i n g b a c k to the early studies
of W e r t h e i m 7 a n d R a u b e r 8 who used whole bones
a n d pieces of bone, respectively. M o s t tests h a v e
been carried o u t s t a t i c a l l y with t h e exception of t h e
compression t e s t s of B i r d 9 a n d M c E l h a n e y l~ where
the effect of loading r a t e was studied. Techniques
of histology h a v e been used to s t u d y t h e micro-
s t r u c t u r e of bone in r e l a t i o n to the physical proper-
ties b y v a r i o u s investigators, some of whom are
Dempster,11. 12 who p e r f o r m e d tests parallel a n d
p e r p e n d i c u l a r to t h e o r i e n t a t i o n of t h e grain struc-
ture, Bird, ~ a n d Ascenzi 13 who has s t u d i e d t h e
p r o p e r t i e s of single osteons r e m o v e d from bone.
T h e only k n o w n a t t e m p t s to define a s t r e s s - s t r a i n
law other t h a n H o o k e s ' L a w h a v e been m a d e b y
M c E l h a n e y 14 who proposes linear and l o g a r i t h m i c
v a r i a t i o n s of stress with increasing s t r a i n r a t e a n d
Sedlin ~5 who proposes a K e l v i n m a t e r i a l in series
w i t h an elastic spring.
Material Acquisition, Storage and Processing
Before a n y extensive e x p e r i m e n t a l p r o g r a m could
be s t a r t e d , it was necessary to define sources for
skull m a t e r i a l . I t was found t h a t h u m a n m a t e r i a l

was available a t hospitals close to the Biomechanics
Laboratories. Specimens have been removed at
100 autopsies with a 3/4-in. or a l l/4-in.-diam
Stryker bone plug cutter m o u n t e d in a Stryker
a u t o p s y saw. As m a n y as four plugs have been
taken from a single skull using the smaller cutter.
T h e holes in the frontal bone are filled with dental
acrylic. E m b a l m e d skullcaps were available from
the D e p a r t m e n t of A n a t o m y at the University.
These offer a source which is useful in determining
regional differences in skull physical properties.
When material is obtained, a complete specimen
record is made. The location of a specimen of bone
is specified by measuring the distances of the speci-
men from standard anatomical features such as
suture lines. Orientation of a specimen in the
skull, posterior-anterior and right-left, is indicated
b y making a cross directly on the skull before the
specimen is removed. I n addition, a circular
paper spot representing each bone plug is placed on
a reference skull kept in the laboratory to serve as a
tally and also to indicate locations for future speci-
mens.
Bone specimens are stored in g]ass vials in a
freezer at - 1 0 ~ C to prevent moisture loss. I t is
felt t h a t enough evidence has become available in
research at The University of Michigan and else-
where to validate this technique for storage.
Tension-Compression Tests
There were multiple objectives in the develop-
ment of this series of experiments. T h e first was
the design of a tension test which could be con-
ducted statically or dynamically. T h e results were
to be static and dynamic elastic moduli or func-
tional stress-strain relationships and failure stresses.
I t was necessary t h a t this test could be carried out
Fig. 1--Tension specimen
on the bones of the skull and the c o m p o n e n t inner
and outer tables as well as the spongy diplSe layer.
The second objective was development of a speci-
men and gripping system which would allow com-
pressive as well as tensile forces to be applied to the
specimen for the purpose of finding a n y transition
modulus as a loading passes from tension to com-
pression. An experimental design of this t y p e
allows cyclic testing and the m e a s u r e m e n t of
hysteresis or energy absorbed b y the bone as the
loads are applied and released. T h e third objective
of the program was the determination of the relation
of the physical properties to the skull a n a t o m y and,
further, the relationship of the measured proper-
ties to the skull microscopic-structure properties
t h r o u g h a series of histological studies.
The specimen and gripping system are shown in
Fig. 1. The specimen is roughly 1/2-in. long and
the cross-sectional area of the test sections about
2 • 10 -3 in. 2 Small blocks are cut from the
a u t o p s y bone plugs, these blanks milled true and,
finally, a finished specimen produced b y mounting
the blank in a template and using the U n i m a t lathe-
mill as a routing table. H e a t production is low.
T h e solution to the problem of gripping a specimen
for tension, compression, cyclic and d y n a m i c load-
ings which was adopted involved applying a positive
pressure to the specimen tabs as well as pinning the
tab ends to prevent the specimen from slipping,
bending or breaking in the grips.
I n order to measure strain, it was decided t h a t
strain gages offered the greatest potential, although
it was found t h a t the mounting of gages on these
small specimens was difficult. E p o x y - b a c k e d foil
gages with grid sizes ranging from 0.015 to 0.04 in.
have been used. After the gage is aligned and
cemented to the bone with E a s t m a n 910 adhesive,
Experimental Mechanics I 237
 DIRECTION OF
LOAD APPLICATION
I0,000

5~000
Cycle
Loading
/ ~ LOADING HEADS
OF TESTING
MACHINE

RECTANGULAR
Bending Failure TEST BLOCK
Check

P
5
I
10
I
15 20 25
I
STRAIN
i (Thousands of microinches/inch)

Fig. 3~Compression-test setup

Fig. 2--Stress vs. strain for tension-compression test

the tabs are tinned and the lead wire is attached.

Overheating results in crazing of the cement under 125

the gage, in damage to the bone, and in a failure of

the gage to adhere. Microscopic examination of
strain-gaged specimens reveals t h a t there is no pro-
fusion of the bone with cement.
T h e testing machines being used are a 10,000-1b-
capacity I n s t r o n floor-model testing machine with
reversible-loading design and a PlasTech testing
machine capable of inducing a strain rate of a b o u t
0.01 /
5000/sec for specimens of this size. For the s~atic DEFORMATION (inches)
tests, load vs. strain curves are obtained by running
the load and strain signals t h r o u g h Honeywell
bridge - excitation - balance units into an X-Y re-
125
corder. For the limited number of dynamic tests
which have been carried out, load, deformation
rate and strain are recorded on a storage oscillo-
scope and photographed.
A drawing of a typical plot of a test is shown in
Fig. 2. A series of three tests is actually performed
on each specimen. A bending test which is carried
out first shows whether the specimen is properly 0.01
lined up in the gripping system. I f alignment is DEFORMATION (inches)
perfect, no strain appears.
T h e next series of tests involves performing a
series of cycles from tension to compression for the
purpose of finding energy-absorption properties of
125
bone, tension elastic modulus, compression modulus,
and the modulus which exists as loading proceeds
from tension to compression and back. I t has
been found t h a t the hysteresis properties of bone
seem to be large, i.e., a relatively large a m o u n t of
energy is absorbed during cyclic loading from ten-
sion to compression.
Finally, the specimens are loaded in tension to
I
0.01
failure. The curves seem nearly linear for a b o u t
DEFORMATION(inches)
two-thirds of the load range indicating t h a t a Fig. 4--Load vs. deformation for compression test

238 I May 1969

Young's modulus defining a linear material is a
good approximation in the case of skull bone.
Also, it has been noted t h a t bone is a brittle ma-
terial as there is little yielding or permanent de-
formation induced before failure. A final property,
which is observed when the specimen does not
fracture t h r o u g h a strain gage destroying the elec-
trical circuit, is the recovery which takes place in
the material when the load is released. The
a m o u n t of strain induced is large, indicating the
viscoelastic behavior of bone. Observations have
shown t h a t the bone assumes its initial strain level
in about 15 min after the test has concluded.
The average Y o u n g ' s modulus of 2.11 • 106 psi
and failure stress of 9500 psi are based on about 50
tests and are in line with other published figures for
static tests on other types of bone. The fact t h a t
the tension-compression loop closes upon itself and
t h a t it is linear for a large portion of both the ten-
sion and compression sections indicates t h a t tension
and compression moduli are the same and t h a t
there is a smooth transition when loading passes
from tension to compression.
Variations in breaking stress seem to be related
to the homogeneity of the bone. Low breaking
stresses occur when there is some spongy bone,
blood vessels, etc., present to initiate early failure.
These same features probably have something to do
with the variation in values obtained for the tension
modulus. T h u s far, no differences in physical
properties have been identified which correlate well
with the observed osteon directional patterns or
with specimen location and orientation in the skull.
This is not surprising due to the more r a n d o m pat-
tern of microstructure found in m a n y parts of the
skull.
A few dynamic stress-strain tests have been
carried out. Preliminary results indicate t h a t
there is a small increase in elastic modulus with no
increase in breaking stress which is c o m m o n for
brittle materials.
Structural Compression Tests
The objective of this test series was the de-
termination of the crush failure characteristics of
the diplSe layer of the skull and the measurement of
an average structural compression modulus of
elasticity for rectangular blocks of skull bone. The
compressive load was applied to the block in a
direction perpendicular to the surface of the skull.
A schematic of the test setup is shown in Fig. 3.
A series of seventy tests has been carried out to
date on bone removed at autopsy and frozen until
the test date.
The test specimens were made from bone plugs
removed at a u t o p s y b y first machining the circular
disks flat on a milling machine while using a jig for
clamping the specimen. This piece was then sawed
into smaller pieces and finished specimens were in
the shape of very small blocks with all planes
mutually perpendicular to each other. Specimen
widths were 0.20 in. or smaller and height varied
from 0.16 to 0.23 in.
, The testing of the specimens was done on a
10,000-1b capacity I n s t r o n floor-model testing ma-
chine. T h e specimens were placed between a
compression load cell and the traveling crosshead
and the rate of loading adjusted to the desired level.
L o a d was recorded on a strip chart.
The most typical curves obtained are shown in
Fig. 4. The first curve was the most frequent.
After the specimen was judged to have failed, the
test was stopped. There were several criteria for
failure. Whenever the curve looked like the por-
tion ABC in Fig. 4, it was inevitable t h a t the speci-
men had failed cataclysmically. All the failures
were in the diplSe. When no cataclysmic failure
was observed, then either the failure was indicated
b y a sharp rise in the loading curve or b y a constant
horizontal loading curve as shown in the last two
drawings in Fig. 4.
A structural modulus was obtained b y comparing
axial deformation with load. The mean value was
2.02 • 105 psi with high and low values being 5.3
• 105 psi and 0.104 X 105 psi. A range of values
this large contrasts greatly with the moduli ob-
tained in the tension-compression tests where the
bone was compact. Failure stresses are also m u c h
lower indicating the collapse of the weblike struc-
tural network of the dipl5e layer. T h e mean value
is 5300 psi with high and low values of 15,700 psi
and 768 psi.
Shear Tests
T h e purpose of the shear test is to measure the
shear strength of the diplSe in h u m a n skull bone
when it is subjected to a simple shear force. F,m-
balmed h u m a n skullcaps are being used for this
test because of ready availability and the desire to
determine any regional variation of properties with
specimen location in the skull.
Fig. 5--Skullcap with shear specimens drilled out
Experimental Mechanics I 239
 Fig. 6--Shear-test fixture
For each of the three skullcaps used so far,
circular plugs are cut using a 8/s-in. bone-plug
cutter. W a t e r is generously applied to the blade
of the cutter during the drilling procedure to act as
a lubricant and to prevent burning of the plug.
A reference system was designed to identify the
location of bone plugs removed from the calvarium.
This system is an a d a p t a t i o n of M c E l h a n e y 16 based
on the coronal and sagittal suture lines of the skull-
cap. A cut skullcap is shown in Fig. 5.
A total of 370 tests have been carried out on the
I n s t r o n testing machine using the shear grips shown
in Fig. 6. The failure load is recorded in order to
determine the simple shear-failure stress, the
average value of which is 1900 psi. I t should be
observed t h a t this value is lower t h a n the failure
stresses obtained in the compression tests. N o
clearly defined relation between strength and loca-
tion or between strength and rate of loading has
yet been determined.
Conclusions
Based oll the above results, the following con-
clusions m a y be drawn:
1. Skullcap compact bone has a static elastic
modulus in tension and compression on the average
of 2.1 X 108psi.
2. The breaking stress in tension is about 9500
psi.
3. The large hysteresis loop and the large a m o u n t
of recoverable strain induced in a specimen stressed
to failure points out that skull bone is a highly
viscoelastic, brittle material.
4. The nature of the compression test results indi-
cates t h a t the skull can be t h o u g h t of as a sandwich
shell possessing transverse orthotropy, the middle
layer being an energy absorber.
240 I May 1969
5. W h e n the diplSe layer of the skull is subjected
to a shearing force, the failure stresses are lower
than those developed in tension or compression.
Acknowledgments
This project is being sponsored by the National
Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness
under C o n t r a c t PH-43-67-1136. I n addition, the
authors wish to t h a n k Drs. Gikas and Hendrix of
the University of Michigan for help in specimen
acquisition.
References
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(1968).
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