The numerical simulation of a new biomimetic silicone layer component of total knee prosthesis

Abstract

The knee osteoarthritis requires the latter joint replacement by a total knee prosthe-sis (TKP). Generally, this prosthesis consists of three parts; a femoral component in CoCrMo cobalt alloy, a tibial insert in polyethylene, and a tibial tray in titanium alloy Ti6AL4V. This type of prosthesis is not 100 % comfortable, after years of implantation, the tibial insert (polyethylene) degrades and gives more wear debris, which affects the bio-functionality of this prosthesis and the patient life. In this study, two models of total knee prosthesis are designed and analyzed using SolidWorks and Ansys software, the first model is the existing three-part prosthesis, and the second model is based on the theory of Mooney – Rivlin method prosthesis with a new layer of silicone component. In this paper, shock simulation of a free fall from a height of 75 cm is studied. The results of the displacement comparison between the first model 0.039 mm, and the second model 1.41 mm. In comparison with the contraction of the biological knee joint show that the second model has a contraction closer to the biological knee. It can be deduced that this total knee prosthesis has a hyper-elastic behavior closer to the behavior of a biological knee as well, which gives more stability and provides a cushioning role for the knee compared to the existing TKP.