A method for shape optimization of a hip prosthesis to maximize the fatigue life of the cement

The long term success of total joint replacement can be limited by fatigue failure of the acrylic cement and the resulting disruption of the bone-cement interface. The incidence of such problems may be diminished by reduction of the fatigue notch factor in the cement, so that stress concentrations are avoided and the fatigue crack initiation time maximized. This study describes a method for numerical shape optimization whereby the finite element method is used to determine an optimal shape for the femoral stem of a hip prosthesis in order to minimize the fatigue notch factor in the cement layer and at interfaces with the bone and stem.

A two-dimensional model of the proximal end of a femur fitted with a total hip prosthesis was used which was equivalent to a simplified three-dimensional axisymmetric model. Software was developed to calculate the fatigue notch factor in the cement along the cement/stem and cement/bone interfaces and in the proximal bone. The fatigue notch factor in the cement at the cement/stem interface was then minimized using the ANSYS finite element program while constraining the fatigue notch factor at the cement/bone interface at or below its initial level and maintaining levels of stress in the proximal bone to prevent stress shielding. The results were compared with those from other optimization studies.     

Effect of coating thickness and its material on the stress distribution for dental implants

Dental implants have been increasingly used to recover the masticatory function of lost teeth. It has been well known that the success of a dental implant is heavily dependent on initial stability and long-term osseointegration due to optimal stress distribution in the surrounding bones by the concept implant surface coating. Hydroxyapatite (HAP), as a coating material, has been widely used in dentistry due to its biocompatibility. Some investigations show a benefit of coating dental implants with HAP, and others concluded that HAP coating reduces the long-term implant survival. Therefore, the aim of this investigation is to design a new functionally graded dental implant coating, as well as studying the effect of coating thickness on the maximum von Mises stresses in bone adjacent to the coating layer. The gradation of the elastic modulus is changed along the longitudinal direction. Stress analysis using a finite element method showed that using a coating thickness of 150 µm, functionally graded from titanium at the apex to the collagen at the root, will successfully reduce the maximum von Mises stress in bone by 19% and 17% compared to collagen and HAP coating respectively.     

Parameteric optimisation of materials for acetabular cup

This paper describes a method of parametric optimisation to determine the optimal stiffness characteristics of cement, metal backing and UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) materials, which minimises the probability of fatigue fracture of cement at all interfaces with the metal backing and the bone, while limiting the amount of bone resorbed. The parameters describing the elastic moduli of cement, metal backing and UHMWPE were considered as design variables. The method was applied to an axisymmetric finite element model of acetabular cup in combination with an optimisation procedure using the ANSYS program. Young's moduli of about 0.63, 207 and 0.72 GPa are optimal materials for cement, metal backing (MB) and UHMWPE, respectively. These characteristics decreased fatigue notch factor Kf in cement by 8.2 and 10.6% and also decreased the maximum von Mises stress in cement by 21 and 27% at cement/bone and cement/metal backing interfaces, respectively. The optimal design reduces the probability of fatigue fracture of cement at all interfaces with the bone and the metal backing while limiting the amount of bone resorbed as a result of increasing von Mises stress and Kf in the central bone of the acetabulum by 34 and 30.6%, respectively.     

Shape optimisation to maximise crack initiation time.

Most of machine parts, artificial joints and their components used for human body contain fillets, which connects two different diameters or widths. These fillets may cause a failure for these components. So, in this paper an optimisation method is presented which calculates and predicts optimal shape of the longitudinal profile for transition length of a tension bar, which connects two different diameters, using the ANSYS program. This method is applied to maximise the crack initiation time by minimising the fatigue notch factor Kf. A specified program has been developed to calculate the fatigue notch factor using Ansys Parametric Design Language (APDL) which is associated to the ANSYS Package. It was observed that the maximisation of crack initiation time with higher value of the statistical parameter, k, is also a minimisation of stress concentration factor, kt, at the same time.A tension bar with four different transition length, t (t/d=0.333, 0.4167, 0.5 and 0.583) is considered. The crack initiation time of the optimal shape for all cases was increased by 17%, 12%, 9% and 7%, respectively. The stress concentration factor was reduced by 20%, 17%, 15% and 12.5%, respectively.