A recent publication in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering describes how “The use of ovine animal models in the study of injury biomechanics and modeling is increasing, due to their favorable size and other physiological characteristics. Along with this increase, there has also been increased interest in the development of in silico ovine models for computational studies to compliment physical experiments. However, there remains a gap in the literature characterizing the morphological and mechanical characteristics of ovine ribs.”
To address that gap, a group of researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, Atrium Health, and the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory has studied the anatomical and mechanical properties of ovine ribs. Veryst Engineering supported this work by conducting high rate tests on our custom-built drop tower. The data shows that the ribs' stiffness increases with strain rate, with the average stiffness increasing by approximately 25% at the impact strain rates compared to quasi-static test results.
The article, titled Micro-CT Imaging and Mechanical Properties of Ovine Ribs, was originally published 25 February 2023, Volume 51, pages 1513–1522.