TY - JOUR
T1 - Equine Hoof Wall Deformation
T2 - Novel Aspects Revealed
AU - Lazarus, Benjamin S.
AU - Luu, Rachel K.
AU - Ruiz-Pérez, Samuel
AU - Barbosa, Josiane D.V.
AU - Jasiuk, Iwona
AU - Meyers, Marc A.
N1 - B.S.L. and R.K.L. contributed equally to this work. The authors acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation Mechanics of Materials and Structures program (Grant Nos. 1926353 and 1926361). The late Professor Joanna McKittrick was an inspiring influence on this project, and her contributions were vital to this publication. The authors would like to thank D.P., H.B., and D.P. at the Advanced Light Source beamline 8.3.2 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for their help performing and reconstructing the microcomputed tomography scans. The authors would also like to thank BNM for his help with transmission electron microscopy imaging of the hoof wall.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - The equine hoof wall has a unique hierarchical structure that allows it to survive high-impact scenarios. Previous authors have explored the compressive, viscoelastic, and fracture control properties of the hoof wall and suggested that this complex structure plays a vital role in the hoof's behavior. However, the link between the structure and the behavior of the hoof wall has been made primarily with the use of post-fracture analysis. Here, periodic microcomputed tomography scans are used to observe the temporal behavior of the hoof's meso and microstructures during compression, fracture, and relaxation. These results shed light on the structural anisotropy of the hoof wall and how its hollow tubules behave when compressed in different directions, at different hydration levels, and in various locations within the hoof wall. The behavior of tubule bridges during compression is also reported for the first time. This study elucidates several fracture phenomena, including the way cracks are deflected at tubule interfaces and tubule bridging, tubule arresting, and fiber bridging. Finally, relaxation tests are used to show how the tubule cavities can regain their shape after compression.
AB - The equine hoof wall has a unique hierarchical structure that allows it to survive high-impact scenarios. Previous authors have explored the compressive, viscoelastic, and fracture control properties of the hoof wall and suggested that this complex structure plays a vital role in the hoof's behavior. However, the link between the structure and the behavior of the hoof wall has been made primarily with the use of post-fracture analysis. Here, periodic microcomputed tomography scans are used to observe the temporal behavior of the hoof's meso and microstructures during compression, fracture, and relaxation. These results shed light on the structural anisotropy of the hoof wall and how its hollow tubules behave when compressed in different directions, at different hydration levels, and in various locations within the hoof wall. The behavior of tubule bridges during compression is also reported for the first time. This study elucidates several fracture phenomena, including the way cracks are deflected at tubule interfaces and tubule bridging, tubule arresting, and fiber bridging. Finally, relaxation tests are used to show how the tubule cavities can regain their shape after compression.
KW - equine hooves
KW - keratin
KW - periodic microcomputed tomography
KW - stress relaxation
KW - tubular structures
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U2 - 10.1002/sstr.202200402
DO - 10.1002/sstr.202200402
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85170405207
SN - 2688-4062
VL - 4
JO - Small Structures
JF - Small Structures
IS - 10
M1 - 2200402
ER -