Case Study
Contact analysis of artificial hip joint components
Morgan Matroc
Ltd, Bioceramic Products used LUSAS Analyst for stress analysis of ceramic
components such as femoral heads used in total hip replacement. In orthopaedic
applications, ceramic heads offer the advantages of low wear, high strength and excellent
biocompatibility. Morgan Matroc is a world leader in ceramic technology and always uses
the most up-to-date techniques to evaluate, design and test their ceramic implant devices.
| The ceramic heads are made of either zirconia or alumina and are highly polished to
reduce wear on the hip socket, which is made from Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
(UHMPE). The head is fitted to a Morse-type taper titanium shaft that is then cemented
into the femur.
The heads are produced in a range of sizes with bore sizes and taper
angles adjusted according to customer requirements. LUSAS is being used to investigate
load-to-failure, fatigue and impact for these various configurations.
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Normally, the analysis of the contact
between the shaft and head and between head and socket is a very
difficult problem for traditional finite element systems. However,
LUSAS Analyst contains a "slideline" facility specifically
designed for these types of contact problem. The slideline facility
automatically calculates the contact conditions between the various
parts in the structure and allows complex problems involving contact
and friction to be modelled and analysed with relative ease.
Other LUSAS Analyst case
studies:
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Software Information
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