Title: Material selection of acetabular component in human hip prosthesis using finite element concepts

Authors: M. Kalayarasan; L. Prakash; S. Shankar

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamilnadu-638052, India ' Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, India ' Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamilnadu-638052, India

Abstract: Hip joint replacement is an important issue in orthopaedic surgery. The success of the artificial hip replacement depends upon proper material selection, structure and shape of the prosthesis. Many orthopaedic analyses have been tried with different materials, but ended with partial success on the application side. The main objective of this paper is to extend the acetabular component finite element model of human hip prosthesis to investigate the maximum von Mises stress, contact pressure, contact radius and mean contact pressure to yield strength ratio for different combinations of bio-compatible materials. Eight different geometrical parameters are considered in the current study. The materials used are Co-Cr alloy, Co-Cr-Mo alloy, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and alumina. To guarantee good clinical results in total hip replacement (THR), it is predicted from this extensive analysis that cobalt chromium paired with UHMWPE provides optimum performance in all the conditions. The analysis demonstrates that the implant with larger head radius, cup radius, and UHMWPE cup thickness with decrease in radial clearance value yields better mechanical performance. The finite element results are also compared with the experimental data of Jin et al. (1999) and found to be in good agreement with each other.

Keywords: hip prosthesis; acetabulam; materials selection; finite element method; FEM; total hip replacement; THR; orthopaedics; artificial hips; von Mises stress; contact radius; contact pressure; yield strength; biomaterials; UHMWPE; alumina; cobalt alloys; chromium; molybdenum; biomedical implants; head radius; cup radius; cup thickness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJECB.2013.056519

International Journal of Experimental and Computational Biomechanics, 2013 Vol.2 No.2, pp.118 - 135

Received: 09 May 2012
Accepted: 02 Jan 2013
Published online: 12 Jul 2014 *

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