In this study, impulsive stress wave propagation in articular bone-cartilage structure which is caused by strike between the joint surfaces is investigated. Since the articular cartilage covers the subchondral bone of the joint parts, the bone-cartilage structure is modeled as a composite structure that is constructed of epoxy resin and epoxy rubber in these experiments. In order to simulate the knee or elbow joints, a rectangular plate is impacted by a circular plate through the intermediary of an epoxy rubber layer. These rectangular and circular plates are made of epoxy resin. Dynamic photoelasticity and high-speed photography are used to study the stress wave propagation and strain is measured with foil strain gauges for the specimens in which the thicknesses of the epoxy rubber layer are various. From the results of the simulation, the shock-absorbing effect of the real articular cartilage for the bone structure is considered. Moreover, the influences of the thickness of the cartilage on the shock-absorbing effect and the stress generation itself are discussed.
