Friction and wear performance evaluation of UHMWPE using Taguchi based grey approach: A study on the influence of load and bio-serum lubrication

Abstract

The friction and wear behavior of biomedical implant materials is a subject of interest to tribologists. It stems from the fact that friction & wear are the key factors affecting the life of artificial replacement joints. This study investigates the tribological performance of UHMWPE against Biomedical grade 316 L stainless steel and TiAl6V4under different bio serum lubrications. The selected materials are commonly used for total joint replacement and form a tribo pair in contact. The friction and wear tests were performed on a pin on disc tribo-meter at normal body temperature of 37 °C. The design of experiment approach based on Taguchi methodology was used for experimentation planning and Taguchi's L18 orthogonal array was used based on the levels of the control factors viz., counter-face material, bio lubrication and load. Further, Taguchi and grey based approaches were used for optimization of the friction and wear processes with respect to the control factors. Furthermore, ANOVA technique was used to study the effect of selected process parameters on the tribological performance of UHMWPE. It is perceived that the load is the most important parameter that affects both average friction coefficient and specific wear rate. Grey relational analysis revealed that using Ti6Al4V Counterface material with human serum and 52 N normal load gives the optimum tribological performance for UHWMPE. The worn surfaces of UHWMPE were examined using scanning electron microscopy to reveal the wear mechanisms.