Finite element analysis of the behaviour of a crack in the orthopedic cement

Abstract

In this paper, the finite element method is used to analyse the crack behaviour in the orthopedic cement of the total hip replacement by computing the stress intensity factors (SIFs) arround the crack tip. In this work, three cases are studied: crack emanating from a cavity, interaction effect of the crack emanating from a cavity with another cavity and the interaction effect of two cracks emanatingfrom two cavities. The stress intensity factors under mixed mode problems at the crack tip are computed for three zones of prosthesis: proximal, median and distal. The obtained results show that the crack initiated from a micro-cavity in the distal zone of cement can be propagated at the same time by opening and shearing of its lips. It is contrary to that initiated in the proximal zone which cannot be propagated. The mechanical behaviour of cracks in the medial zone depends of the crack initiation position.

Crack growth path simulation in a cement mantle of THR using crack box technique

“…which can be solved as Figure 3a shows the geometrical model used in this study. It is taken from our previous study (Benouis et al, 2016).The prosthesis is devised in three zones: proximal, median and distal and two parts: interior (right part) and exterior (left part). The contact between the cement and the stem and between the bone and the cement is considered as fully bounded.…”

“…Figure 3b shows boundary conditions acting on the geometrical model. The boundary conditions imposed are taken from the previous work (Benouis et al, 2016). u x and u y indicate the displacements in the x and y directions, respectively.…”

“…4a). The FE ANSYS Mechanical APDL has been investigated for the modeling of the two-dimensional (2D) problem using plane stress state conditions (Benouis et al, 2016). Figure 4b shows a typical FE model used in this study.…”

Strenghth analysis of hip joint replacement revision implant

“…It has become a wider problem, also in reference to biological and mechanical aspects of prostheses degenerating bone tissue, which is currently the object of a few technical studies, e.g. evaluating the strength of bone cement in configuration with titanium implants and decreased quality of bone tissue (Benouis et al, 2016). Together with the number of primary joints replacements, the number of secondary--revision procedures is also growing, consisting in replacing prostheses with the new ones, e.g.…”

3D FE analysis of the behavior of elliptical cracks on orthopedic cement of the total hip prosthesis

“…In vivo, surface morphology fracture of the bone cement, related to PMMA fracture micromechanics, despite the higher cement stresses with deboned stems, polished prostheses do not provoke the damage accumulation failure scenario, according to studies which used the extrapolation method to predict the creep behavior of the PMMA bone cement (Topoleski et al, 1990;Lennon et al, 2004;Morgan et al, 2003). Benouis et al (2016) used 2D-FEM to analyse the behavior of cracks interaction with the orthopedic cement by computing SIFs. Benbarek et al (2013) used numerical analysis to examine the orthopedic cement on the acetabular part.…”