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Operative management of long bone fractures is considered to be the treatment of choice all over the world. This could be achieved either by intramedullary nailing or plating. The former allows delivery of stresses into the fracture site, but it requires a well-equipped operating theatre and an experienced surgeon who is, unfortunately, continuously exposed to radiation. On the other hand, plates could easily be applied in every orthopaedic clinic, but the existing ones are rigid and protect the fracture site from stresses to which it is ordinarily exposed. Recently, various experimental attempts have been made to provide plates which allow partial loading on the fracture site and enhance callus formation (secondary fracture healing). Bearing that in mind, a two-part sliding plate (SP) has been developed at the Orthopaedic Clinic of Patras University, which allows intermittent loading into the fracture site. Both the conventional AO rigid plate and SP were applied to osteotomized sheep radii. The dynamic properties of the callus were estimated with its two dynamic mechanical characteristics (dynamic modulus of elasticity and the relative loss factor), whereas its static properties (strength) were evaluated by measuring the ultimate bending strength. A superiority of callus produced by the sliding plate was observed concerning all the parameters under consideration.

Damage developing during fatigue of composite laminates affects both dynamic modulus of elasticity and damping coefficient of the material. It has been shown that the effect of fatigue on the damping coefficient is of particular importance. The damping variation could be used to characterise the damage state of the material, produced by fatigue. A model relating damage with damping was developed to correlate damage development to mechanical response. The damping coefficients of the composite of the fatigue test were measured at various stages, using the flexural free vibration of the test coupon in cantilever configuration. The method was applied both in multidirectional and unidirectional laminates.

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