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constant
l length of the bril (mm)
L sliding distance per cycle (m)
M
c
average molecular weight between
cross-links (g/mole)
M
0
critical molecular weight
between cross-links (g/mole)
c
CC bond energy (Joule)
coefcient of friction
0
critical coefcient of friction
cross-shear angle between an
instantaneous velocity vector and the
principal sliding direction
angular velocity (radian/s)
[18,19,23]. In linear-tracking motion, molecular orienta-
tion leads to strain-hardening of the wear surface which
results in an increasing wear resistance as sliding proceeds.
In multi-directional motion, the UHMWPE wear surface
experiences both shear and tensile stresses in multiple di-
rections. Strengthening in one particular direction results in
weakening in a perpendicular direction a phenomenon
that was often observed in oriented linear polymers [19,24].
Recent computer simulation of the human joint kinematics
has indeed indicated that stresses experienced by the sur-
face in both the hip and the knee joint are multi-directional
[19,20,25].
The discovery of the adverse effect of molecular orien-
tation in multi-directional sliding has resulted in the devel-
opment of using crosslinking as a means to improve the
wear resistance of UHMWPE [2630]. Crosslinking makes
the UHMWPE more isotropic. First, crosslinking retards
chain mobility and hence reduces the degree of molecular
orientation during sliding. Second, crosslinking increases
the density of the CC chemical bonds between adjacent
molecular chains and hence makes it more difcult to split
one molecule from another. Recent hip joint simulator stud-
ies have indeed demonstrated that crosslinked UHMWPE
possessed far superior wear resistance than non-crosslinked
linear UHMWPE [2630].
The present study looks at the anisotropic wear behavior
of UHMWPE from a theoretical point of view. The physi-
cal process of wear debris generation was considered as a
intermolecular splitting phenomenon. The UHMWPE wear
surface was treated as an composite structure consisting of
numberous micro-brils oriented in the principal sliding di-
rection. A wear particle is produced as a bril is separated
from its neighbours by tearing rupture in the secondary
sliding direction. A quantitative model was then developed.
Three separate model experiments were conducted under
lubricated multi-directional sliding conditions to verify the
validity of the theory.
2. Theory
Fig. 1(a) shows schematically the contact between a
smooth deformable UHMWPE surface and a smooth rigid
surface under a normal load
P. Relative motion between
these two surfaces is considered in such a way that at any
given moment the velocity vector v rotates at an angular
velocity of in the xy plane, Fig. 1(b). Denoting as the
angle between the velocity vector v and the x-axis at time
t, as the maximum angle of the upper extreme position of
the velocity vector and as the lower extreme position
of the velocity vector, then the velocity vector rotates from
0
t
0
(
Q v) dt = 4
P v
1
d =
4Pv
(1)
where is the coefcient of friction. The total frictional
work released in the y direction is given by
W
y
=
t
0
(Qsin )(v sin ) dt
=4
0
(Pv sin
2
)
d
=
2Pv
sin 2
2
(2)
The total frictional work released in the x direction is
W
x
= W W
y
=
2Pv
+
sin 2
2
(3)
Let us then consider the interaction between a stress vector
q and a oriented UHMWPE bril of length l and diameter
d (Fig. 2). In order for the bril to become a loose wear
particle, it must be separated from its neighbours through
tensile rupture in the xz plane and shear rupture in the xy
plane. The energy or work required to separate this bril
from its neighbours is given by
w = 2(dlX
c
c
) (4)
where X
c
is the CC bond density (number of bonds per
area) and
c
the CC bond energy.Since the volume of the
bril V is ld
2
, the work required to produce a unit volume
of debris is given by
w
V
=
2dlX
c
c
ld
2
=
2X
c
c
d
(5)
Let us assume that W
x
contributes to the elongation of the
brils while W
y
contributes to the rupture of the brils.
Fig. 2. An inter-bril rupture model of an oriented UHMWPE surface by
an off-axis force vector q.
Since molecular elongation leads to strengthening, rupture
in the elongation direction is unlikely. Hence, W
x
may be
considered ineffective as far as wear is concerned. In the
transverse direction, on the other hand, the rupture strength
decreases as the molecules elongate. Therefore, W
y
may
be considered effective in producing wear.
Then, the total volume of wear debris produced per cycle
is given as the effective work divided by the specic work
required to produce a unit volume of wear debris, i.e.
V =k
W
y
(w)/(V)
= k
2Pvd
X
c
sin 2
2
=k
2Pvd
X
c
1
sin 2
2
(6)
where k
Pd(vt)
2X
c
1
sin 2
2
(7)
Since (vt) = L, where L is the average linear sliding distance
travelled per motion cycle, then Eq. (7) becomes
V = k
PdL
2X
c
1
sin 2
2
(8)
The wear factor k which is dened as the volume loss per
unit sliding distance per unit load, i.e. k = V/(PL), is,
therefore, given by
k = k
d
2X
c
1
sin 2
2
(9)
Eq. (9) represents the wear rate per unit sliding distance per
unit load as a function of the material properties (X
c
c
), the
lubrication conditions , the degree of the cross-path motion
(1sin 2/2) and the cross-sectional width of the brils d.
At = /2 = 90
d
2X
c
c
(10)
Therefore, Eq. (9) can also be written as
k
= k
/2
1
sin 2
2
(11)
3. Experiments
3.1. Model Experiment 1: k versus
Hemispherical sockets of various diameters were ma-
chined from extruded GUR1050 UHMWPE rod (PolyHi
Solidur, Fort Wayne, IN) with an average molecular weight
A. Wang / Wear 248 (2001) 3847 41
Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of the hip joint simulator.
of approximately 6 million. These sockets have the follow-
ing diameters: 32.05, 32.55, 33.05, 33.55, 34.05, 35.05 and
36.05 mm. Polished CoCr femoral heads with a common
diameter of 32.00 mm and a center-line average roughness
of 0.015 mm (R
a
) were used as an articulating counterface
against the UHMWPE sockets in both a friction simulator
[31] and a wear simulator [19]. In the friction simulator, the
Fig. 4. Normalized surface shear stress vector distributions at the head/cup articulating interface during a load/motion cycle for the hip joint wear simulator.
femoral head oscillates inside the socket about the load axis
at 30
PL
=
V
41.25
(mm
3
/Nm) (12)
Fig. 5 shows the coefcient of friction and the wear factor
as a function of the ball/socket radial clearance. Both and
k decreased as clearance increased. Fig. 6 shows a plot of k
as a function of , which was seen to increase linearly with
increasing . However, the best-t straight line of the data
(R
2
= 0.90) does not go through the origin as indicated by
Eqs. (9) and (10). Rather it intersects with the horizontal axis
at =
0
= 0.04. This suggests that there exists a critical
Fig. 6. Wear factor vs. coefcient of friction.
value of coefcient of friction below which rupture between
brils would not occur. To better reect the experimental
results, Eq. (9) may be modied as follows
k = k
d(
0
)
2X
c
1
sin 2
2
(13)
3.2. Model Experiment 2: k versus M
c
UHMWPE(GUR4050) bars were irradiated with -rays at
3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 15.0 Mrads. Following irradiation,
the bars were annealed at 130
and 15
, respectively.
Therefore, the maximum angles of cross-shear () simulated
here were 0, 7.5
and 15
was
also included in Fig. 11. With the k
/2
known, the theoretical
relationship between k
, k increased
by an order of magnitude; from 7.5 to 15
, k increased by a
factor of 3; from 15 to 90
d(
0
)
2
c
1
X
c
1
X
0
1
sin 2
2
(15)
or
k = k
d(
0
)
2
c
(M
c
M
0
)
1
sin 2
2
(16)
where M
c
is the average molecular weight between
crosslinks and M
0
the critical average molecular weight be-
tween crosslinks. In a biaxial pin-on-disk study, Muratoglu
et al. found that the wear rate of crosslinked UHMWPE
increased linearly with M
c
[30]. These authors also ob-
tained a threshold value of approximately 4500 g/mole for
M
c
for zero wear rate. These ndings provided further
experimental support for Eq. (16).
According to the theory outlined in Eqs. (9), (15) and
(16), the wear factor k should increase with increasing the
average cross-sectional width of the bril d. Since d is a con-
sequence of the nal wear event and cannot be determined
theoretically without conducting a quantitative analysis of
the wear debris itself, the theory remains semi-empirical. It
may be argued that d should be proportional to the depth
or thickness of the highly deformed surface layer during
steady state sliding. A recent study using transmission elec-
tron microscopy by Edidin et al. revealed that the depth
of the highly oriented surface layer was much less for a
highly crosslinked UHMWPE than for a non-crosslinked
UHMWPE [37]. These authors then attributed the increased
wear resistance of highly crosslinked UHMWPE to the re-
duced thickness of the oriented surface layer or the so-called
plasticity-induced damage layer. The present theory sug-
gests that the reduced thickness of the damage layer is
only part of the explanation for the observed benets of
crosslinking. Another benet of crosslinking, perhaps a
major one, comes from the increased resistance to inter-
bril rupture due to increased crosslink density. In other
words, crosslinking contributes to increased wear resistance
in two major ways: (a) increased resistance to plastic strain
accumulation or molecular orientation, and (b) increased
resistance to inter-molecular rupture.
A major limitation of the theory is the uncertainty of
the constant k
d(
0
)
2
c
1
X
c
1
X
0
1
sin 2
2
where k