In Situ Studies of Cartilage Microtribology: Roles of Speed and Contact Area

The progression of local cartilage surface damage toward early stage osteoarthritis (OA) likely depends on the severity of the damage and its impact on the local lubrication and stress distribution in the surrounding tissue. It is difficult to study the local responses using traditional methods; in situ microtribological methods are being pursued here as a means to elucidate the mechanical aspects of OA progression. While decades of research have been dedicated to the macrotribological properties of articular cartilage, the microscale response is unclear. An experimental study of healthy cartilage microtribology was undertaken to assess the physiological relevance of a microscale friction probe. Normal forces were on the order of 50 mN. Sliding speed varied from 0 to 5 mm/s, and two probes radii, 0.8 and 3.2 mm, were used in the study. In situ measurements of the indentation depth into the cartilage enabled calculations of contact area, effective elastic modulus, elastic and fluid normal force contributions, and the interfacial friction coefficient. This work resulted in the following findings: (1) at high sliding speed (V = 1–5 mm/s), the friction coefficient was low (μ = 0.025) and insensitive to probe radius (0.8–3.2 mm) despite the fourfold difference in the resulting contact areas; (2) the contact area was a strong function of the probe radius and sliding speed; (3) the friction coefficient was proportional to contact area when sliding speed varied from 0.05 to 5 mm/s; (4) the fluid load support was greater than 85% for all sliding conditions (0% fluid support when V = 0) and was insensitive to both probe radius and sliding speed. The findings were consistent with the adhesive theory of friction; as speed increased, increased effective hardness reduced the area of solid–solid contact which subsequently reduced the friction force. Where the severity of the sliding conditions dominates the wear and degradation of typical engineering tribomaterials, the results suggest that joint motion is actually beneficial for maintaining low matrix stresses, low contact areas, and effective lubrication for the fluid-saturated porous cartilage tissue. Further, the results demonstrated effective pressurization and lubrication beneath single asperity microscale contacts. With carefully designed experimental conditions, local friction probes can facilitate more fundamental studies of cartilage lubrication, friction and wear, and potentially add important insights into the mechanical mechanisms of OA.