Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-22-2019
Abstract
One of the main causes of hip prostheses failure is the premature wear of their components. Multi-directional motion or “cross-shear” motion has been identified as one of the most significant factors affecting the wear rate of UHMWPE in total hip joint replacement prostheses. To better evaluate the effect of this cross-shear motion on the tribological behavior of different biomaterials, a new wear testing device has been designed and developed. This new instrument is capable to reproduce the “cross-shear” effect with bidirectional motion on bearing materials and to determine coefficient of friction (COF) between surfaces during testing. To validate the functionality of this new testing platform, alumina balls were articulated against Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy disks in Ringer’s solution. Four different articulation patterns, all with identical path lengths per cycle, were tested. Gravimetric weight loss was converted to volumetric wear data in order to determine the effects of motion patterns on the wear. Worn surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. This scientific approach to quantifying the tribological effects of cross-shear provides fundamental data that are crucial in evaluating potential biomaterials for use in knee and hip joint replacements.
Recommended Citation
Cortes, V., Rodriguez Betancourth, C. A., Ortega, J. A., & Huq, H. (2019). Multidirectional Pin-on-Disk Testing Device to Evaluate the Cross-shear Effect on the Wear of Biocompatible Materials. Instruments, 3(3), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments3030035
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Instruments
DOI
10.3390/instruments3030035
Comments
Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments3030035