Abstract
The paper introduces an experimental investigation of frictional behaviour of materials used for joint replacements. The measurements were performed using a ball-on-disc tribometer, while four material combinations were tested; metal-on-metal, ceramic-on-ceramic, metal-on-polyethylene, and ceramic-on-polyethylene, respectively. The contact was lubricated by pure saline and various protein solutions. The experiments were realized at two mean speeds equal to 5.7 mm/s and 22 mm/s and two slide-to-roll ratios, −150% and 150%. It was found that the implant material is the fundamental parameter affecting friction. In general, the metal pair exhibited approximately two times higher friction compared to the ceramic. In particular, the friction in the case of the metal varied between 0.3 and 0.6 while the ceramic pair exhibited friction within the range from 0.15 to 0.3 at the end of the test. The lowest friction was observed for polyethylene while it decreased to 0.05 under some conditions. It can be also concluded that adding proteins to the lubricant has a positive impact on friction in the case of hard-on-hard pairs. For hard-on-soft pairs, no substantial influence of proteins was observed. The effect of kinematic conditions was found to be negligible in most cases.
Highlights
Total joint arthroplasty is an efficient and well-established surgical procedure improving the life of patients suffering from joint diseases
The experiments were performed with pure phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for all the material combinations, considering both positive and negative sliding at lower (5.7 mm/s) and higher (22 mm/s) speed
It should be taken into account that the surface roughness of the employed ceramic disc was an order of magnitude higher than the surface of the ball, which could affectMaterials the results
Summary
Total joint arthroplasty is an efficient and well-established surgical procedure improving the life of patients suffering from joint diseases. According to the Health at a Glance 2015 report [1], 161 operations per 100,000 inhabitants were performed in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in 2013. Despite the rapid improvement of the implanted materials in the last few decades [2], limited longevity is still recognized as the main drawback of the replacements. It should be highlighted that failure of the implant is accompanied by the need for a revising operation, which is an economic burden and substantially deteriorates the comfort of the patient. Since the main cause of the failure is osteolysis [4] followed by aseptic loosening, the tribological performance of implants has to be understood in the context of the further development of replacements
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