An investigation into the flexural characteristics of functionally graded cobalt chrome femoral stems manufactured using selective laser melting

In order to reduce the stress shielding of the femur following Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA), stiffness matching strategies between the host bone and femoral stem still need to be investigated. Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) technologies such as Selective Laser Melting (SLM) can produce components from a single alloy with varying mechanical properties, and hence, functionally graded parts. This work considers the flexural characteristics of laser melted cobalt chrome femoral stems, by using a combination of mechanical testing and finite element analysis. A functionally graded design methodology was considered in order to reduce the weight and stiffness of the femoral stems. Three separate functionally graded designs were investigated by incorporating square pore cellular structures of varying density. The results confirmed that selective laser melting can repeatedly manufacture a functionally graded femoral stem that is 48% lighter and 60% more flexible than a traditional fully dense stem. However, there are concerns associated with the repeatability of the manufacturing process for producing stems with cellular structures that incorporate strut sizes, which are equal to or less than 0.5 mm.     

Improved mechanical long-term reliability of hip resurfacing prostheses by using silicon nitride

Although ceramic prostheses have been successfully used in conventional total hip arthroplasty (THA) for many decades, ceramic materials have not yet been applied for hip resurfacing (HR) surgeries. The objective of this study is to investigate the mechanical reliability of silicon nitride as a new ceramic material in HR prostheses. A finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to study the effects of two different designs of prostheses on the stress distribution in the femur–neck area. A metallic (cobalt–chromium-alloy) Birmingham hip resurfacing (BHR) prosthesis and our newly designed ceramic (silicon nitride) HR prosthesis were hereby compared. The stresses induced by physiologically loading the femur bone with an implant were calculated and compared with the corresponding stresses for the healthy, intact femur bone. Here, we found stress distributions in the femur bone with the implanted silicon nitride HR prosthesis which were similar to those of healthy, intact femur bone. The lifetime predictions showed that silicon nitride is indeed mechanically reliable and, thus, is ideal for HR prostheses. Moreover, we conclude that the FEA and corresponded post-processing can help us to evaluate a new ceramic material and a specific new implant design with respect to the mechanical reliability before clinical application.     

The Effect of the Stiffness of the stem of the Modular Revision Prosthesis MRP Titan Depending on Stem Diameter

The MRP‐Titan revision stem has proved to be a very successful implant system in revision arthroplasty of the hip joint. With this revision system good and very good clinical and excellent radiographic results with spontaneous filling out of femur defects were published in studies. The observation, that an atrophy of the proximal femur could be recorded with stem diameters above 17 mm, lead us to carry out stiffness measurements on different diameters of the MRP‐Titan revision stem. To determine the static bending characteristics, the bent 200 mm MRP‐Titan revision stem was tested under axial stress in accordance with Euler´s buckling cases. Various diameters from 13 to 22 mm were tested with a calibrated hydraulic MTS 810 axial piston testing machine (MTS Systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA). Each test was carried out five times, the mean average value of the respective deflexion for each stem diameter was listed in a diagram. It turned out that deflexion decreased disproportionately from a stem diameter of > 18 mm. This correlated directly with an increased stiffness of the stem. With the MRP‐Titan revision stem a reliable implant in revision arthroplasty has been made available. The clinical observation of a proximal femur atrophy with stem diameters > 17 mm could be correlated in the series of experiments with a corresponding exponential increase in stiffness. The aim of continuing development will be to reduce the stiffness of the individual implant, especially in larger stem diameters, through constructive and/or material science measures.     

A Method of Material Optimization of Cementless Stem Through Functionally Graded Material

Ideally, a bone implant should be such that it exhibits an identical response to loading as real bone and is also biocompatible with existing tissue. A stiff stem, which is usually made of titanium, shields the proximal bone from mechanical loading (stress shielding). On the other hand, decreasing the stem stiffness increases the proximal interface shear stress and the risk of proximal interface failure. Therefore the purpose of this study is to solve these conflicting requirements in order to have more uniform interface shear stress distribution and less stress shielding through the concept of functionally graded material (FGM). FGM is a kind of advanced composite materials, which changes its composition and structure gradually over one or two directions of its volume, resulting in corresponding changes in the properties of the material. This study is divided into two parts; in the first part, the finite element analysis and optimization technique are used to design the stem as one-dimensional FGM, while in the second part, the stem is designed as two-dimensional functionally graded material. The aim of both designs is to overcome the above mentioned problems. In the case of part one (one-dimensional FGM), the gradation of elastic modulus is changed along the vertical direction (model 1) and along the horizontal direction (model 2), in order to find the optimal gradation direction. It is found that the optimal design is to change the elastic modulus gradually from 110 GPa (Hydroxyapatite) at the top of the stem to 1GPa (Collagen) at the bottom (model 1). This optimal gradation decreases stress shielding by 83%, while reduces the maximum interface shear stress by 32% compared to homogenous titanium stem. However, in the second part (two-dimensional FGM, model 3) the materials of optimal design are found to be hydroxyapatite, Bioglass, and collagen. This design leads to the same stress shielding reduction as in model 1, while at the same time, the maximum interface shear stress is reduced by 45% and 63% compared to the optimal one-dimensional FGM design and homogenous titanium stem, respectively.     

Modified cemented stem fixation in hip arthroplasty with computer based analysis – Experimental results

27 cemented stems were implanted in fresh‐frozen human cadaver femora with third generation antegrade cementing technique and with prechilled vacuum‐mixed and pre‐pressurized Palacos R bone cement. 3 groups with different implantation techniques were compared according to the achieved cement mantle thickness distribution. Group 1 (modified stem fixation): 7 canulated stems inserted over guidetubes that were fixed in distal synthetic plugs (3 Willert CF‐30 and 4 flanged Charnley stems). The guidetubes served simultaneously for stem centralization and evacuation of the intramedullary cavity. Group 2: 12 stems with distal centralizers with fins (4 flanged Charnley, 8 anatomic cemented AC), and Group 3: 8 stems without centralizer (4 Willert CF‐30 and 4 flanged Charnley). For analysis, each femur was cut into mean 25 cross‐sections (range, 22 ‐ 31). Contact radiographs were taken and digitized with a sampling distance of 0.12mm (204.8 dpi). Using a custom‐made computer program (FemStat 1.001), the cement mantle thickness was determined at mean 650 implant surface points per cross section. Results: The percentage of critical cement mantle thickness was lower for the canulated stems with guidetube. Here 14.1 % of the measurements were smaller than 2mm. For the stems with distal centralizer and without centralizer this was 28.3 % and 28.2 % (p = 0.003 and p = 0.002, U‐test). Cement mantles smaller than 1mm were also reduced for group 1 (2.8 % compared with 4.7 % and 7.5 %) but this was not significant (p = 0.384 and p = 0.094). The stems without centralizers had only slightly inferior cement mantles if compared to stems with distal centralizers with fins (for < 2mm p = 0.571, for < 1mm p = 0.305). Comparing different cementing techniques for one constant type of prosthesis (Charnley) the canulated stems with guide tubes provided a significantly better cement mantle thickness than the stems with distal centralizers (for < 2mm 10.3 % compared with 26.6 %, p = 0.029; for < 1mm 1.5 % compared with 3.4 %, p = 0.343). Distal centralizers failed, as the intramedullary cavity is elliptic in cross section and the gaps between the wings caused malposition. For all stems in group 3 improvement of the cement mantle thickness was predominantly achieved in the distal and middle third of the femur. Conclusion: The implantation technique with canulated stems inserted over a guidetube allows superior stem positioning leading to a more favourable cement mantle.     

Optimal design of customised hip prosthesis using fiber reinforced polymer composites

The need for new materials in orthopaedic surgery arises from the recognition of the stress-shielding effect of bone by high-modulus implants presently made of engineering alloys. A lower modulus implant material will result in the construction of a more biomechanically compatible prosthesis. In this respect, composite materials are gaining importance because they offer the potential for implants with tailor-made stiffness in contrast to metals. In the present study, the bending stiffness of composite prosthesis is matched with that of bone in both the longitudinal and radial directions by choosing optimal carbon fiber reinforced polyether ether ketone (PEEK) matrix lay-up. A numerical optimization algorithm is developed to deduce the optimal composite femoral prosthesis lay-up that matches the stiffness properties of the femoral bone in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. Effective bending moments and compressive forces acting on the hip joint are considered in the design of the optimal length and diameter of the prosthesis. The optimization algorithm was implemented, by using MATLAB(R)™ for designing the composite prosthesis to a patient’s specific requirement. Finally the efficiency of the composite stem is compared with that of metallic alloy stems in terms of stress shielding using a finite element program.     

一种新型无柄股骨假体的设计研究

通过对比传统有柄股骨假体的应力分布来研究新型无柄股骨假体的生物力学性能。利用真实人体股骨上端的CT扫描图像,建立完整股骨、2个或3个固定螺钉的无柄假体、传统有柄假体的三维有限元模型。模拟人单腿直立的载荷情况,分析和比较每种模型的Von Mises应力分布。研究表明,无柄假体股骨上的Von Mises应力比传统有柄假体和完整股骨上的都要高;与传统有柄假体相比,防止了应力遮挡效应的产生;2个或3个固定螺钉的无柄假体在股骨的Von Mises应力分布上没有明显差别。新型无柄假体可以防止应力遮挡效应,和传统有柄假体相比能够使股骨上的应力分布更加符合实际的生理情况。     

Hip stem fatigue test prediction

The accuracy of fatigue test prediction methods for the standard fatigue testing of hip stems was evaluated against the experimental results of static and fatigue tests. Axial unnotched strain-controlled material fatigue tests provided the required cyclic material properties. Finite element analysis of the hip stems predicted a maximum tensile stress to within 3–7% of strain gauge measurements. The four methods investigated accurately predicted hip stem fatigue strength at 5 million cycles (?1% to ?9% errors). The strain–life methods successfully predicted fatigue life (factors 1/7.0–9.2 of the test) at high and low stress amplitudes of 352 and 315 MPa, respectively. The classical stress–life method was only accurate (factor 1/1.9) for the low stress level. The current study has demonstrated that fatigue test prediction methods can be applied with confidence to support standard fatigue testing of hip stems. Further studies can expand the understanding of these methods and their clinical relevance by investigating effects due to variable amplitude loading and environment.     

Performance of bioactive PMMA-based bone cement under load-bearing conditions: an in vivo evaluation and FE simulation

In the past, bioactive bone cement was investigated in order to improve the durability of cemented arthroplasties by strengthening the bone-cement interface. As direct bone–cement bonding may theoretically lead to higher stresses within the cement, the question arises, whether polymethylmethacrylate features suitable mechanical properties to withstand altered stress conditions? To answer this question, in vivo experiments and finite element simulations were conducted. Twelve rabbits were divided into two groups examining either bioactive polymethylmethacrylate-based cement with unchanged mechanical properties or commercially available polymethylmethacrylate cement. The cements were tested under load-bearing conditions over a period of 7?months, using a spacer prosthesis cemented into the femur. For the finite element analyses, boundary conditions of the rabbit femur were simulated and analyses were performed with respect to different loading scenarios. Calculations of equivalent stress distributions within the cements were applied, with a completely bonded cement surface for the bioactive cement and with a continuously interfering fibrous tissue layer for the reference cement. The bioactive cement revealed good in vivo bioactivity. In the bioactive cement group two failures (33?%), with complete break-out of the prosthesis occurred, while none in the reference group. Finite element analyses of simulated bioactive cement fixation showed an increase in maximal equivalent stress by 49.2 to 109.4?% compared to the simulation of reference cement. The two failures as well as an increase in calculated equivalent stress highlight the importance of fatigue properties of polymethylmethacrylate in general and especially when developing bioactive cements designated for load-bearing conditions.     

The development of a physiological hip prosthesis: the influence of design and materials

A wooden femur model was used together with matched cementless experimental implants to investigate the influence of some design concepts on the stress distributions within the proximal femur model, with emphasis on the longitudinal stresses on the outer bone surface, because the longitudinal stresses are believed to be the most important stresses in view of the laws of bone remodelling. In addition to the integration of alternative geometrical design concepts in a hip prosthesis design, the effect of using alternative materials upon bone stresses was also investigated. Stress evaluation was made by a combination of two-dimensional finite element analysis and strain-gauge measurements. The results and conclusions drawn from these experiments have led to a prototype of a so-called physiological hip prosthesis, in which are integrated a properly oriented collar, a hinge between stem and neck part, and a flexible stem.     

Endurance verification of custom-made hip prostheses

Custom-made stems are a particular class of hip prostheses manufactured in a single sample for a specific patient. Experimental fatigue testing according to ISO standards cannot be performed for pre-clinical validation of these devices. However, the implant manufacturers need to assess the endurance properties of custom-made stems. This study investigates a theoretical protocol to predict the maximum stress induced in the stem by the ISO experimental test set-up. Stress was predicted using beam theory and finite element analysis (FEA). Strain measurements were used to assess the accuracy of the theoretical calculation. Fatigue testing was performed to verify the theoretical prediction about the fatigue stem performance. The results showed that FEA is more accurate than beam theory. Beam theory calculation is able to predict the static stresses induced by the ISO 7206/4 loading set-up with a difference always lower than 20% with respect to a prediction of a simplified FEA. Hence beam theory can be used to estimate the maximum stress. FEA becomes useful for a stem stressed at a limit condition. In both cases precise data about the endurance properties of the material are required for corrected predictions. However, endurance verification should be performed by introducing a safety factor to account for the material and manufacturing variations.     

On the influence of shape and material used for the femoral component pegs in knee prostheses for reducing the problem of aseptic loosening

The integration of materials selection and design are essential to the success of new product development, especially when applied to biomedical devices. The knee prosthesis, like any other implant, is a product that still lacks satisfactory design solutions for solving the problem of aseptic loosening. Stress shielding is one of the main causes of aseptic loosening that is intimately related to the overall design of the knee prosthesis. The design of the location pegs in the femoral component of the knee prosthesis is seen to have a critical effect on the stress shielding. In this study, therefore, different combinations of location peg geometries and material designs were assessed using finite element analyses in conjunction with a design of experiments procedure. The materials considered were Co–Cr alloy (as reference material) and functionally graded material (FGM) for the main body of the femoral component, and various porous materials for the pegs (as promising new materials). The performance outputs (responses) were stress levels in the femoral bone to assess the stress shielding effect, and stress levels in the pegs to assess adequate peg strength. The result revealed conflicts in satisfying the design objectives. Therefore, a multi-objective optimization was carried out to find the optimal geometries of the pegs for the femoral component. Based on the findings of the optimization process, a set of candidate designs was generated and a multi-criteria decision making approach used to obtain the final ranking of candidate designs. The ranking order demonstrated the superiority of using a FGM femoral component with porous material pegs of conical geometry. By comparing the results with the standard Co–Cr design, it was shown that the new design of pegs can significantly increase the magnitude of stresses seen at the distal femur; hence reduce the stress shielding effect, without over compromising on the strength of the pegs.     

Meshless method for modeling of human proximal femur: treatment of nonconvex boundaries and stress analysis

  In this paper, a meshless method based on the kernel particle approximation is employed for the simulation of the human proximal femur. The proposed formulation considers treatments of nonconvex boundaries and material discontinuities in the bone structure. A preprocessor is developed for the generation of the discretized scatter particles model. Application examples were employed to explore certain stress distribution phenomena in the human proximal femur with consideration for the detrimental effects of infarction as well as aging. The effects of stress variations were also examined exposing some very interesting biomechanical features. Received 20 January 2001 / Accepted 30 May 2001     

高孔隙度可再生骨支架仿真与实验研究

目的 确定单元体与股骨的最佳孔隙度骨支架结构。方法 通过扫描电镜分析选区激光熔化(Selective laser melting,SLM)成形试样的微观结构;通过静力学模拟与实验分析不同孔隙度下标准结构与Voronoi多孔结构的压缩变形规律;通过生物力学仿真实验分析步态周期下标准结构与Voronoi多孔结构的应力分布情况。结果 在选区激光熔化成形的316L不锈钢微观组织中,均匀分布着细小的近六边形、伸长六边形的胞状结构和条柱状亚结构,受压时有利于分散应力,提高整体结构的稳定性;在压缩变形时,标准结构应力集中于垂直棱柱,易导致棱柱断裂引起试样倾斜;Voronoi结构连接杆的不均匀分布有利于分散应力,使Voronoi结构的最大等效应力(250.34 MPa)远低于标准结构(738.07 MPa),保证了整体受力均匀与结构稳定;在步态周期下,2种骨支架结构的应力随孔隙度的增加而增加,75%孔隙度的Voronoi结构具有更优异的承压能力与缓解应力屏蔽的作用。结论 通过模拟与试验分析,确定了单元体与股骨的最佳孔隙度及Voronoi结构优异的力学性能,验证了在步态周期下高孔隙度Voronoi骨支架结构的可靠性,为股骨置换手术提供了理论依据。     

Study on fibre laser spot welding of TRIP980 steel

A 980 MPa transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) steel was fibre laser spot welded by different Argon (Ar) shielding conditions, laser power (1000 up to 2500 W) and defocusing distances (?8 up to +8 mm). The surface appearance, cross-section macrostructure, microstructure, hardness, tensile shear properties and fatigue properties of laser spot welds were evaluated. The results showed that the welds with Ar shielding had larger weld appearance and bonding sizes, better tensile shear properties compared with the welds without Ar shielding. With the increase in laser power, the laser welding mode changed from conduction to keyhole, which improved the bonding size and mechanical properties. The bonding size and mechanical properties increased in the order of defocusing distances of +8, ?8, +4, ?4 and 0 mm. During the fatigue tests of laser spot weld, the fusion zone pullout and sheet transverse fracture failure modes were observed.     

Finite element analysis of the behaviour of microvoids in the cement mantle of cemented hip stem: Static and dynamic analysis

In this study, the three-dimensional finite element (FE) method is used to analyse the stress distribution around microcavities in the cement mantle of total hip arthoplasty (THA). Static and dynamic loading were analysed. The effect of the position of the microdefect on the stress distribution is also highlighted. The obtained results show that microcavity located in the proximal zone of the prosthesis is subject to higher stress field. The static loading generates higher stresses than dynamic one if the microcavity is located in the proximal and distal zones of the prosthesis. The inverse case is observed when the microcavity is located in the medial zone.     

Smart cure cycles for the adhesive joint of composite structures at cryogenic temperatures

Adhesive joints are employed for composite structures used at the cryogenic temperatures such as LNG (liquefied natural gas) insulating tanks and satellite structures. The strength of the adhesive joints at the cryogenic temperatures is influenced by the property variation of adhesive and the thermal residual stress generated due to the large temperature difference (ΔT) from the adhesive bonding process to the operating temperature. Therefore, in this work, the strength and thermal residual stress of the epoxy adhesive at cryogenic temperatures were measured with respect to cure cycle. Also, the cure cycles composed of gradual heating, rapid cooling and reheating steps were applied to the adhesive joints to reduce the thermal residual stress in the adhesive joints with short curing time. Finally, a smart cure method was developed to improve the adhesive joint strength and to reduce the cure time for the composite sandwich structures at cryogenic temperatures.     

Bibliographic coupling,common abstract stems and clustering: A comparison of two document-document similarity approaches in the context of science mapping

This paper deals with two document-document similarity approaches in the context of science mapping: bibliographic coupling and a text approach based on the number of common abstract stems. We used 43 articles, published in the journal Information Retrieval, as test articles. An information retrieval expert performed a classification of these articles. We used the cosine measure for normalization, and the complete linkage method was used for clustering the articles. A number of articles pairs were ranked (1) according to descending normalized coupling strength, and (2) according to descending normalized frequency of common abstract stems. The degree of agreement between the two obtained rankings was low, as measured by Kendall’s tau. The agreement between the two cluster solutions, one for each approach, was fairly low, according to the adjusted Rand index. However, there were examples of perfect agreement between the coupling solution and the stems solution. The classification generated by the expert contained larger groups compared to the coupling and stems solutions, and the agreement between the two solutions and the classification was not high. According to the adjusted Rand index, though, the stems solution was a better approximation of the classification than the coupling solution. With respect to cluster quality, the overall Silhouette value was slightly higher for the stems solution. Examples of homogeneous cluster structures, as well as negative Silhouette values, were found with regard to both solutions. The expert classification indicates that the field of information retrieval, as represented by one volume of articles published in Information Retrieval, is fairly heterogeneous regarding research themes, since the classification is associated with 15 themes. The complete linkage method, in combination with the upper tail rule, gave rise to a fairly good approximation of the classification with respect to the number of identified groups, especially in case of the stems approach.     

Failure Analysis of Stainless Steel Stem Used in Explosive Transfer Assembly (ETA) of High Performance Solid Propulsion System Igniter

The adaptor of explosive transfer assembly (ETA) of high performance solid propulsion system igniter used for satellite launch vehicles, which functions as a detonation transfer device, is fabricated from 6.5 mm diameter extruded rod of stainless steels of AISI 304 grade. The stems, as end fittings of ETA were made of 5.5 mm diameter tubes. One of the two stems used in ETA was found ruptured after the high performance solid propulsion system igniter vacuum test. The failed stem was subjected to detailed metallurgical investigations to understand the cause of failure. The observations made were compared with the stem used in the test and did not fail. The failed stem was found to have unacceptable levels of nonmetallic inclusions, while the other stem was practically clean. As the stress experienced at load was beyond the yield point of the material, premature failure occurred by the formation of voids by de-bonding of the inclusions from the matrix. The voids subsequently coalesced to cause fracture. This paper highlights the details of the investigation that was carried out on the fractured stem and established the deleterious effect of inclusions in steel.     

Second generation (low modulus) titanium alloys in total hip arthroplasty

Titanium alloys ‐ type (α+β) ‐ like Ti6Al7Nb or Ti6Al4V are widely used in cementless total hip arthroplasty due to their lower modulus, biocompatibility and enhanced corrosion resistance in comparison to Stainless Steel or Cobalt‐Chromium implant materials. Several articles report about atrophy of the proximal femur in cases where long stems with a big diameter made of (α+β) Titanium alloys with a relatively high value of the Youngs’ Modulus (110 GPa) in comparison to the Youngs’ Modulus of cortical bone (15–25 GPa) have been implanted using a prosthesis design with distal anchorage technique. Meanwhile several implant manufacturers have developed a new group of biocompatible Beta‐Titanium alloys with a lower Youngs’ Modulus around 70 GPa. This article gives an overview of the current status of available low modulus Titanium alloys including their mechanical characteristics and future developments.