Is there a relation between bone strength and percolation?

The thermal contraction temperature of collagen in partially demineralized bone was measured as a function of the volume fraction of the mineral phi m. Initially, the contraction temperature gradually increased with an increase in phi m and then rapidly increased in the vicinity of phi m = 0.17. The resisting force against the contraction stress caused by collagen, which corresponds to the compressive strength, was estimated from the thermal contraction temperature of partially demineralized bone. The phi m-dependence of the resisting force of partially demineralized bone was roughly explained in terms of the percolation theory which gives a good description of a sol-gel transition. This suggests that bone can be approximately regarded as a percolated structure of the mineral on a collagen matrix.