Ivory as an Important Model Bio-composite

Abstract

Ivory carves well and lasts long even under heavy usage. Its use over millennia are testaments to its value for household items, high-value ornaments and weaponry as well as false teeth and early hip-replacements. Indeed, exceptional toughness is required of the elephant’s ivory because its tusk is used by the animal to leverage trees to breaking point or act as weapon in fights between bulls the size and weight of trucks. A number of studies have shown elephant ivory to be a highly non-isotropic material with complex 3 dimensional structures and network of porosity. Combined, these properties give ivory its qualities so desirable by carvers, pianists, artists and pool players. In this brief overview we focus on the structures and material properties of elephant ivory, many of which are shared by other types of ivories.