The dominance of cyclic sliding in producing wear in total knee replacements

G W Blunn, P S Walker, A Joshi, K Hardinge

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    From a literature survey, it was evident that a wide variety of kinematic conditions occur at the femoral-tibial bearing surfaces, including various degrees of rolling and sliding. A test machine was constructed to reproduce these conditions, applied to spherical-ended metal 'femoral' components acting on a flat polyethylene 'tibial' plateau. The load was cyclic at 2.2 kN for 10 million cycles with distilled water lubricant. For cyclic load only, a shiny depression was formed. With oscillating and sliding superimposed, there was severe surface and subsurface cracking resulting in high wear. When rolling motion was applied, a shiny wear track was formed with minimal cracking and wear. Such surface phenomena were observed in retrieved knee specimens, probably reflecting the kinematics associated with the knee. Low-conformity components inserted with high ligamentous laxity are susceptible to anteroposterior sliding and hence high wear. More-conforming components are less susceptible to wear because they limit sliding as well as reduce contact stresses.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)253-60
    Number of pages8
    JournalClinical Orthopaedics and Related Research
    Issue number273
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 1991

    Keywords

    • Corrosion
    • Humans
    • Knee Joint
    • Knee Prosthesis
    • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
    • Movement
    • Prosthesis Design
    • Prosthesis Failure
    • Stress, Mechanical
    • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    • Review

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The dominance of cyclic sliding in producing wear in total knee replacements'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this