No abstract

The use of ceramic-on-ceramic (alumina- and zirconia-based) couplings in hip joint prostheses has been reported to produce lower wear rates than other combinations (i.e., metal-on-polyethylene and ceramic-on-polyethylene). The addition of zirconia into an alumina matrix (zirconia-toughened alumina, ZTA) has been reported to result in an enhancement of flexural strength, fracture toughness, and fatigue resistance. The development of new processing routes in nonaqueous media has allowed to obtain high-density ZTA nanocomposites with a very homogeneous microstructure and a significantly smaller and narrower particle-size distribution of zirconia than conventional powder mixing methods. The aim of the present study was to set up and validate a new ZTA nanocomposite by testing its biocompatibility and wear behavior in a hip-joint simulator in comparison with commercial alumina and experimental alumina specimens. The primary osteoblast proliferation onto ZTA nanocomposite samples was found to be not significantly different from that onto commercial alumina samples. After 7 million cycles, no significant differences were observed between the wear behaviors of the three sets of cups. In this light, it can be affirmed that ZTA nanocomposite materials can offer the option of improving the lifetime and reliability of ceramic joint prostheses.

No abstract

In order to predict the frictional heating and the contact stresses between the polyethylene cup and the metallic ball-head forming the articulation of a hip prosthesis a three-dimensional finite element model was developed and calculated. The non-linear model includes a fully coupled thermomechanical formulation of the mechanical properties of the ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, and a large-sliding Coulomb frictional contact between the two components. The model predicts the temperature of the polyethylene with an accuracy that was tested by comparing the model predictions with the temperature measurements. The temperature measurements were taken by thermocouples placed on the cup surface, the head surface and the inside of the thermostatic bath, during a complete test within a hip joint wear simulator. The model was found to be very accurate, predicting the measured temperatures with an accuracy better than 2 per cent. The temperature peak (51 degrees C) was predicted at the contact surface. The model results indicate that frictional heat is mostly dissipated through the metallic ball-head. The full coupling between the thermal and the mechanical conditions used in this study appears to be necessary if accurate predictions of the polyethylene deformation are required.