Various fracture types of human proximal femur under a single loading orientation

Deformation and fracture behaviors of five femoral specimens were studied under a stance-type slanted loading orientation, under which the specimens were expected to show relatively low stiffness and large deflection. The proximal femurs were loaded using a specially designed fixture, mounted inside a mechanical testing machine. The observed fracture patterns were recognized as typical transcervical and intertrochanteric, plus a unique type of subtrochanteric fracture with specific crack paths at the posterior and anterior sides. A combination of finite element method and fractography was used to analyze the stress/strain distributions and specific fracture paths on different anatomic regions of the femoral shaft.