Shearing forces are applied to bones at the sites of insertion of tendons and ligaments. Resistance to these forces is enhanced by localised thickenings of the bone. Tubercles such as the ischial tuberosity and the greater trochanter of the femur (Fig. 2.8), which serve to increase the torque of muscles acting about a joint, are large because the shearing stress is great. Couples acting in planes at right angles to the length of a bone result in twisting, which also shears the material. The shearing stress is, as for bending, greatest at the outside, and zero along the central axis of the bone. Hollow shafts give strength with lightness in twisting as well as in bending, and again, such stress is greatest midway along the length of the bone. | Shearing forces are applied to bones at the sites of insertion of tendons and ligaments. Resistance to these forces is enhanced by localised thickenings of the bone. Tubercles such as the ischial tuberosity and the greater trochanter of the femur (Fig. 2.8), which serve to increase the torque of muscles acting about a joint, are large because the shearing stress is great. Couples acting in planes at right angles to the length of a bone result in twisting, which also shears the material. The shearing stress is, as for bending, greatest at the outside, and zero along the central axis of the bone. Hollow shafts give strength with lightness in twisting as well as in bending, and again, such stress is greatest midway along the length of the bone. |