Bone stiffness plays a key role musculoskeletal function, while bone strength and its ability to dissipate energy protects vital organs. Recent experimental studies in our laboratories consisted in quantifying micromechanical properties to investigate the stress transfer and damage accumulation at the extracellular matrix (ECM) scale. The aim of this work is to propose the simplest representative volume element (RVE) of the bone ECM indicating a consistent anisotropic elasticity with recent results.
