MASTER Applied mechanics of materials and structures

Universitat de Girona - 3501MO2062

OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Academic year 2016-2017

S TAINLESS FEMORAL STEM PROSTHESIS ANALYSIS

Problem description

The total hip replacement (THR) is one of the most usual joint arthorplasty. This is a common practice since
the 1950s. It is estimated that over 50 000 THR have been performed annually only in the UK. Currently, the
more standard THR prostheses are made with two main elements: a polymer cup type ace-tabular element and
a metal femoral stem.

In the case of the metallic femoral stems, there are several types of approaches and are produced by different
materials as stainless steels, cobalt-chrome allows or titanium allows. The main division inside the femoral
part it is between cemented stems and non-cemented stems. Two basic stem designs are used in cemented hip
replacement, namely: loaded tapers (or force-closed femoral stems), and the composite beam or shape-closed
implants. Within stainless loaded taper stems a representative example is the Exeter hip prosthesis (Stryker,
Mahwah, New Jersey). The Exeter design was firstly implanted in 1970 at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic
Hospital in Exeter (England) and is currently widely used after some design revisions.

The loaded-taper femoral stem concept allows modular design. Usually, the stem is manufactured in different
sizes and it is assembled to the head with a cone taper to define the neck offset and head position. Therefore,
this modular solution allows combining different stem lengths with different neck offset distances and getting
adapted geometries for almost every anatomy.

Figure 1: Alpha-Cemented femoral prosthesis of Baumer Ortopedia (Brazil).

Nowadays, there are several commercial stainless steel prostheses based on the original Exeter design or loaded-
taper femoral stem concept. It results to be a low-cost solution extensively used in Public Health Systems and
with highly satisfactory results. The Alpha-Cemented femoral prosthesis of Baumer Ortopedia (Brazil), based
 MASTER Applied mechanics of materials and structures
Universitat de Girona - 3501MO2062
OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Academic year 2016-2017

on the loaded-taper stem design, is shown by the Figure 1 as an example.

The geometry adopted for the analysis is based on the type Exeter hip stem prosthesis of Incompe (Industria de
Materiais Cirurgicos, Coita, SP, Brazil). The stem is connected to the head through a cone (similar to Morse
taper). Incomepe supplies this implant in seven different sizes. The commercial denomination of the models
describes the total insertion length (La ) and the offset distance (Lb ) (see Figure 2).

Lb

La

Figure 2: Exeter based stem and parametric geometry adopted.

The tapered stem to be inserted to the femur is defined by its length (a = 130.8 mm) and by two cross sections.
The lowest zone is defined by a circular cross section of radius r1 = 2 mm. The section before to the blend
angle is an oval section defined by the radius r2 = 5.25 mm and the width h2 = 12 mm (the distance between
these sections being 104 mm). The neck zone is defined by the offset length (b = 40 mm) and it has a circular
cross section of radius r3 = 6.25 mm. The angle between the tapered stem and the neck zone is = 127 .
On the other hand, THR implants should be designed and tested to ensure the fatigue requirements are satisfied.
The laboratory procedure described in the standard ISO 7206-4 is a common requirement for the stemmed
femoral prosthesis. This standard specifies the test parameters and the requirements for the endurance limit of
stemmed femoral components.
Following the indications of the standard ISO 7206-4 the femoral stem should be subjected to a cyclic compres-
sive force. The force is applied to a modular head. Meanwhile, the lower portion of the specimen is embedded
 MASTER Applied mechanics of materials and structures
Universitat de Girona - 3501MO2062
OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Academic year 2016-2017

in a solid medium according to the Figure 3. The distance D and the angles and define the position of
the stem. Therefore, these load conditions produce on the stem axial and shear forces, combined with bending
moments and torsion.

D 2 mm
1

CT
1

Figure 3: Position and orientation of specimen under test defined by ISO 7206-4 for symmetrical stems with a
CT distance between 120 mm and 250 mm, where D = 80 mm, = 10 and = 9 .

The objective of this work is to observe the influence of the elastic foundation definition in a virtual test imple-
mented in ANSYS to reproduce the test that describe the standard ISO 7206-4.

Questions to be solved

a) Analyse, using analytic expressions, the expected forces and moments over the transversal cross section of
the stem closer to the embedded section. Assume that the stem behaves as a cantilever beam and the applied
force is 2300 N.

b) Using the previous forces and moments identify the normal and shear forces, the bending moments and the
torque that the stem gets during the ISO 7206-4 test. With these values, calculate the stress state in the
point where the maximum tensile and compressive stresses are achieved. Calculate the Von Misses stress
associated to these two points.

c) Using a FE model in ANSYS define the tapered stem zone (stainless steel with elastic modulus of E = 190
GPa and Poisson coefficient of = 0.29) and the elastic foundation (epoxy with elastic modulus of E = 3.3
GPa and Poisson coefficient of = 0.34). Solve the FE model describing clearly the method that you use
to define the union between both materials.

d) Solve the same FE model with different elastic modulus for the elastic foundation (for example with
Eepoxy = [3.3, 10, 30, 90, 180] GPa). Discuss the results. Compare the obtained results between the ana-
lytical approach and the numerical results and try to discuss the reasons of the differences found.
 MASTER Applied mechanics of materials and structures
Universitat de Girona - 3501MO2062
OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Academic year 2016-2017

e) Perform a sensitivity analysis with the angles and and determine if there is one of both more sensitive
to the Von Misses stress than the other one.

Learning objectives

1) To define a three-dimensional solid finite element model.

2) To solve a problem and design a geometry using computational tools.

3) Analyse the influence of a elastic foundation in the obtained results.

4) To present calculations, results and conclusions in a technical report.

 MASTER Applied mechanics of materials and structures
Universitat de Girona - 3501MO2062
OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICS OF
MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES Academic year 2016-2017

Exemple 1.1. Let us model a rod of 100 mm length. This rod is rotated 30 degrees with respect to the vertical
axis. At the top end of the rod a vertical force of 1000 N is applied. The rod is embedded in a solid medium,
being the distance between the application load point and the embedded surface of 30 mm.
Calculate the state of forces and moments at the rod critical cross section.

The ANSYST M command sequences for this example is listed below. You can either type these commands on
the command window, or you can type them on a file, then, on the command window enter /input, file, ext.

This file can be found at:

ftp://ftp_mms/Applied_MMS/input_files/AMMS_rotation_example.m