Fretting-corrosion in hip implant modular junctions: New experimental set-up and initial outcome

By D. Royhman and M. Patel and M.J. Runa and J.J. Jacobs and N.J. Hallab and M.A. Wimmer and M.T. Mathew
Published in Tribology International NULL 2015

Abstract

Modern hip prostheses feature a modular implant design with at least one tapered junction. This design can lead to several complications due to the introduction of additional interfaces, which are subjected to various loading conditions and micromotion. The main objective of the current study is to develop a fretting corrosion apparatus, which is able characterise the mechanical and electrochemical behaviour of various existing metal alloy couples during fretting motion. This study describes the design and the main considerations during the development of a novel fretting corrosion apparatus, as well as determination of the machine compliance and the initial testing results. Machine compliance considerations and frictional interactions of the couples are discussed in detail. For the preliminary tests, metal alloy pins, made of Ti6Al4V and wrought high-carbon CoCrMo were mechanically polished to a surface roughness of less than 20 nm. 2 pins (Diameter=11 mm) of either Ti6Al4V or CoCrMo were loaded onto a Ti6Al4V alloy rod at a normal force of 200 N. The interface types included: Ti6Al4V

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