Abstract
Materials commonly found in hip replacements are a polymer paired with metals or alloys. Tribological behavior of polyethylene bearing surfaces against synthetic sapphire are compared against other bearing combinations to evaluate sapphire as a viable means to lower the incidence of revision surgery by mitigating production of wear debris. Sapphire disks against polyethylene plates were tested utilizing a tribometer. The polyethylene wear rate was found to be 22.6mm3 per year, less than the 40-80mm3 per year typically found in traditional hip replacements. A power law function is presented correlating a decreasing friction coefficient as polyethylene volume loss increases as V0.88. These results show potential for synthetic sapphire as an alternative bearing surface in joint replacements.
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