Viscoelastic Response of Elastohydrodynamically Lubricated Compliant Contacts below Glass-Transition Temperature.

The widespread use of polymers in the high-performance engineering applications brings challenges in the field of liquid lubrication in order to separate the rubbing surfaces by the coherent fluid-film thickness relative to not only the inelastic material response of the polymers. The determination of the mechanical properties by the nanoindentation and the dynamic mechanical analysis represents the key methodology to identify the viscoelastic behavior with respect to the intense frequency and temperature dependance exhibited by polymers. The fluid-film thickness was examined by the optical chromatic interferometry on the rotational tribometer in the ball-on-disc configuration. Based on the experiments performed, first, the complex modulus and the damping factor for the PMMA polymer describing the frequency and temperature dependence were obtained. Afterwards, the central as well as minimum fluid-film thickness were investigated. The results revealed the operation of the compliant circular contact in the transition region very close to the boundary between the Piezoviscous-elastic and Isoviscous-elastic modes of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime, and a significant deviation of the fluid-film thickness from the prediction models for both modes in dependence on the inlet temperature.

Tribological behaviour of 3D printed materials for small joint implants: A pilot study.

Additive manufacturing is a progressive method in endoprosthetics enabling customisation of implants. However, the challenge is to design articulating surfaces that are wear resistant in a long term. To tackle this challenge, it is necessary to understand the interaction between the surfaces and the lubricant synovial fluid as well as the mechanism of lubrication film formation. In this study we observed three synovial fluid constituents (albumin, γ-globulin a hyaluronic acid) in the contact area simultaneously with the coefficient of friction (CoF). Two metal alloys, CoCrMo and Ti6Al4V covered by DLC, were selected for the experiments as they are both suitable for the additive technology and commonly used in implants manufacturing. The tests were running on a custom-made pin-on-plate tribometer equipped for optical fluorescence measurements. The test apparatus allowed reciprocating motion and observation of the contact area. Our results showed differences in the pace of the CoF increase between the alloys and differences between the samples manufactured by the conventional and the additive manufacturing method. Both the conventionally and additively manufactured CrCrMo samples showed a stable CoF values from the beginning of the experiments: 0.66 (SD 0.02) for the conventional manufacturing CrCrMo samples and 0.53 (SD 0.01) for the additive manufacturing CrCrMo samples. The Ti6Al4V/DLC samples showed a stable CoF values similar to those of the CoCrMo samples not until the 240 s of experiment. These results are related to the protein formation in the contact areas as suggested by a similar increasing trend of the individual synovial fluid constituents in the contact. Increasing protein amounts in the contact led to CoF increase. There were also differences in the ratios of the individual constituents, where both the CoCrMo and the Ti6Al4V/ DLC samples manufactured additionally showed lower concentrations of γ-globulin and hyaluronic acid. These pilot results, on the one hand, support the potential of the additive manufacturing in the implantology and, on the other hand, demonstrate the application of a method suitable for the analysis of the lubricant behaviour in the contact. The method is limited in using the intensity of the emitted light to observe the behaviour of the lubricant film. Future development of the method will require a direct quantification of film thickness.

Analysis of Chemisorbed Tribo-Film for Ceramic-on-Ceramic Hip Joint Prostheses by Raman Spectroscopy.

To understand the possible lubricant mechanism in ceramic-on-ceramic hip joint prostheses, biochemical reactions of the synovial fluid and the corresponding frictional coefficients were studied. The experiments were performed in a hip joint simulator using the ball-on-cup configuration with balls and cups made from two types of ceramics, BIOLOX®forte and BIOLOX®delta. Different lubricants, namely albumin, γ-globulin, hyaluronic acid and three model synovial fluids, were studied in the experiments and Raman spectroscopy was used to analyze the biochemical responses of these lubricants at the interface. BIOLOX®delta surface was found less reactive to proteins and model fluid lubricants. In contrast, BIOLOX®forte ball surface has shown chemisorption with both proteins, hyaluronic acid and model fluids imitating total joint replacement and osteoarthritic joint. There was no direct correlation between the measured frictional coefficient and the observed chemical reactions. In summary, the study reveals chemistry of lubricant film formation on ceramic hip implant surfaces with various model synovial fluids and their components.

Biotribology of Synovial Cartilage: A New Method for Visualization of Lubricating Film and Simultaneous Measurement of the Friction Coefficient.

A healthy natural synovial joint is very important for painless active movement of the natural musculoskeletal system. The right functioning of natural synovial joints ensures well lubricated contact surfaces with a very low friction coefficient and wear of cartilage tissue. The present paper deals with a new method for visualization of lubricating film with simultaneous measurements of the friction coefficient. This can contribute to better understanding of lubricating film formation in a natural synovial joint. A newly developed device, a reciprocating tribometer, is used to allow for simultaneous measurement of friction forces with contact visualization by fluorescence microscopy. The software allowing for snaps processing and subsequent evaluation of fluorescence records is developed. The evaluation software and the follow-up evaluation procedure are also described. The experiments with cartilage samples and model synovial fluid are carried out, and the new software is applied to provide their evaluation. The primary results explaining a connection between lubrication and friction are presented. The results show a more significant impact of albumin proteins on the lubrication process, whereas its clusters create a more stable lubrication layer. A decreasing trend of protein cluster count, which corresponds to a decrease in the thickness of the lubrication film, is found in all experiments. The results highlight a deeper connection between the cartilage friction and the lubrication film formation, which allows for better understanding of the cartilage lubrication mechanism.

The Effect of Synovial Fluid Composition, Speed and Load on Frictional Behaviour of Articular Cartilage.

Articular cartilage ensures smooth motion of natural synovial joints operating at very low friction. However, the number of patients suffering from joint diseases, usually associated with cartilage degradation, continuously increases. Therefore, an understanding of cartilage tribological behaviour is of great interest in order to minimize its degradation, preserving the reliable function of the joints. The aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive comparison of frictional behaviour of articular cartilage, focusing on the effect of synovial fluid composition (i), speed (ii), and load (iii). The experiments were realized using a pin-on-plate tribometer with reciprocating motion. The articular cartilage pin was loaded against smooth glass plate while the tests consisted of loading and unloading phases in order to enable cartilage rehydration. Various model fluids containing albumin, γ-globulin, hyaluronic acid, and phospholipids were prepared in two different concentrations simulating physiologic and osteoarthritic synovial fluid. Two different speeds, 5 mm/s and 10 mm/s were applied, and the tests were carried out under 5 N and 10 N. It was found that protein-based solutions exhibit almost no difference in friction coefficient, independently of the concentration of the constituents. However, the behaviour is considerably changed when adding hyaluronic acid and phospholipids. Especially when interacting with γ-globulin, friction coefficient decreased substantially. In general, an important role of the interaction of fluid constituents was observed. On the other hand, a limited effect of speed was detected for most of the model fluids. Finally, it was shown that elevated load leads to lower friction, which corresponds well with previous observations. Further study should concentrate on specific explored phenomena focusing on the detailed statistical evaluation.

UHMWPE acetabular cup creep deformation during the run-in phase of THA's life cycle.

Ultra-high molecular polyethylene (UHMWPE) is one of the most used materials of the acetabular liners in total tip arthroplasty (THA). Polyethylene has good tribological properties and biocompatibility. However, the lifetime of polyethylene implants is limited by wear related complications. Polyethylene material released into the periprosthetic environment induces osteolysis that can be followed by implant loosening. Wear of cup is influenced mainly by orientation of the cup in pelvis, by initial geometry before the material degradation and by tribological parameters. Aim of this study is to focus on the run-in-phase of the liner which is predictive for future life cycles of liner. Creep deformations of liners for 30°, 45°, 60° inclination angles surgically recommended for the positioning in pelvis were analyzed by the optical scanning method. Load tests were performed for 50,000 cycles. Creep deformations and surface changes were analyzed at each 10,000 cycles. The results showed that liners with 60° inclination angle had higher creep deformations. Penetration of femoral head was 0.04-0.05 mm and occupied bearing area was around 77%. The smallest creep was measured for the 45° angle. However, deformation in the superior quadrant of acetabular rim, which is vulnerable for potential fracture of a liner, was identified in this case. Topography of the surface bearing was also observed during the run-in-phase. The surface was smoothened and showed multidirectional scratches caused by the influence of third body particles. This phase was followed by early delamination. Flakes sized approximately 5-20 µm were observed on the UHMWPE surface. This is similar to the'flake' shape wear debris extracted in vivo. Detailed analysis of run-in phase of loading of modern polyethylene implants can help to distinguish between their creep deformation and true degradation. The latter contributes strongly to the development of wear related complications associated with THAs limiting substantially their time in service.

The Effect of Kinematic Conditions and Synovial Fluid Composition on the Frictional Behaviour of Materials for Artificial Joints.

The paper introduces an experimental investigation of frictional behaviour of materials used for joint replacements. The measurements were performed using a ball-on-disc tribometer, while four material combinations were tested; metal-on-metal, ceramic-on-ceramic, metal-on-polyethylene, and ceramic-on-polyethylene, respectively. The contact was lubricated by pure saline and various protein solutions. The experiments were realized at two mean speeds equal to 5.7 mm/s and 22 mm/s and two slide-to-roll ratios, −150% and 150%. It was found that the implant material is the fundamental parameter affecting friction. In general, the metal pair exhibited approximately two times higher friction compared to the ceramic. In particular, the friction in the case of the metal varied between 0.3 and 0.6 while the ceramic pair exhibited friction within the range from 0.15 to 0.3 at the end of the test. The lowest friction was observed for polyethylene while it decreased to 0.05 under some conditions. It can be also concluded that adding proteins to the lubricant has a positive impact on friction in the case of hard-on-hard pairs. For hard-on-soft pairs, no substantial influence of proteins was observed. The effect of kinematic conditions was found to be negligible in most cases.

Mechanical wear and oxidative degradation analysis of retrieved ultra high molecular weight polyethylene acetabular cups.

The number of revision joint replacements has been increasing substantially over the last few years. Understanding their failure mechanism is extremely important for improving the design and material selection of current implants. This study includes ten retrieved and four new mildly cross-linked ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) acetabular liners. Among them, most of the prostheses (n = 5) were reported to be revised and replaced due to aseptic loosening, followed by painful joint (n = 2), dislocation (n = 1), intra articular ossification (n = 1), combination of wear (liner) and osteolysis (stem) (n=1). Surface deviations (wear, material inflation and roughness), oxidative degradation and change of material properties were measured using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scan, 3D laser scanning microscopy, raman spectroscopy and nanoindentation, respectively. Prostheses having eccentric worn areas had much higher linear wear rates (228.01 ± 35.51µm/year) compared to that of centrically worn prostheses (96.71 ± 10.83µm/year). Oxidation index (OI) showed similar trends to the surface penetration depth. Among them, sample 10 exhibited the highest OI across the contact area and the rim of the cup liner. It also had the lowest hardness/elasticity ratio. Overall, wear and creep, oxidative degradation and reduced hardness/elasticity ratio all contributed to the premature failure of the UHMWPE acetabular cup liners.

The impact of surface and geometry on coefficient of friction of artificial hip joints.

Coefficient of friction (COF) tests were conducted on 28-mm and 36-mm-diameter hip joint prostheses for four different material combinations, with or without the presence of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) particles using a novel pendulum hip simulator. The effects of three micro dimpled arrays on femoral head against a polyethylene and a metallic cup were also investigated. Clearance played a vital role in the COF of ceramic on polyethylene and ceramic on ceramic artificial hip joints. Micro dimpled metallic femoral heads yielded higher COF against a polyethylene cup; however, with metal on metal prostheses the dimpled arrays significantly reduced the COF. In situ images revealed evidence that the dimple arrays enhanced film formation, which was the main mechanism that contributed to reduced friction.

Improved wear resistance of functional diamond like carbon coated Ti-6Al-4V alloys in an edge loading conditions.

This study investigates the durability of functional diamond-like carbon (DLC) coated titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) under edge loading conditions for application in artificial hip joints. The multilayered (ML) functional DLC coatings consist of three key layers, each of these layers were designed for specific functions such as increasing fracture strength, adapting stress generation and enhancing wear resistance. A 'ball-on-disk' multi-directional wear tester was used in the durability test. Prior to the wear testing, surface hardness, modulus elasticity and Raman intensity were measured. The results revealed a significant wear reduction to the DLC coated Ti-6Al-4V disks compared to that of non-coated Ti-6Al-4V disks. Remarkably, the counterpart Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) balls also yielded lowered specific wear rate while rubbed against the coated disks. Hence, the pairing of a functional multilayered DLC and Si3N4 could be a potential candidate to orthopedics implants, which would perform a longer life-cycle against wear caused by edge loading.

The effect of lubricant constituents on lubrication mechanisms in hip joint replacements.

The aim of the present paper is to provide a novel experimental approach enabling to assess the thickness of lubricant film within hip prostheses in meaning of the contribution of particular proteins. Thin film colorimetric interferometry was combined with fluorescent microscopy finding that a combination of optical methods can help to better understand the interfacial lubrication processes in hip replacements. The contact of metal femoral head against a glass disc was investigated under various operating conditions. As a test lubricant, the saline solution containing the albumin and γ-globulin in a concentration 2:1 was employed. Two different mean speeds were applied, 5.7 and 22mm/s, respectively. The measurements were carried out under pure rolling, partial negative and partial positive sliding conditions showing that kinematic conditions substantially affects the formation of protein film. Under pure rolling conditions, an increasing tendency of lubricant film independently on rolling speed was detected, while the total thickness of lubricant film can be attributed mainly to albumin. When the ball was faster than the disc (negative sliding), a very thin lubricant film was observed for lower speed with no significant effect of particular proteins. The increase in sliding speed led to the increase of film thickness mainly caused due to the presence of γ-globulin. On the contrary, when the disc was faster than the ball (positive sliding), the film formation was very complex and time dependent while both of the studied proteins have shown any qualitative change during the test, however the effect of albumin seems to be much more important. Since a very good agreement of the results was obtained, it can be concluded that the approach consisting of two optical methods can provide the fundamental information about the lubricant film formation in meaning of particular proteins while the simultaneous presence of other constituents in model synovial fluid.

Towards near-permanent CoCrMo prosthesis surface by combining micro-texturing and low temperature plasma carburising.

An advanced surface engineering process combining micro-texture with a plasma carburising process was produced on CoCrMo femoral head, and their tribological properties were evaluated by the cutting-edge pendulum hip joint simulator coupled with thin film colorimetric interferometry. FESEM and GDOES showed that precipitation-free C S-phase with a uniform case depth of 10µm was formed across the micro-textures after duplex treatment. Hip simulator tests showed that the friction coefficient was reduced by 20% for micro-metre sized texture, and the long-term tribological property of microtexture was enhanced by the C-supersaturated crystalline microstructure formed on the surface of duplex treated CoCrMo, thereby enhancing biotribological durability significantly. In-situ colorimetric interferometry confirmed that the maximum film thickness around texture area was 530nm, indicating that the additional lubricant during sliding motion might provide exceptional bearing life.

A novel tribological study on DLC-coated micro-dimpled orthopedics implant interface.

This study investigates a tribological performance of diamond like carbon (DLC) coated micro dimpled prosthesis heads against ceramic cups in a novel pendulum hip joint simulator. The simulator enables determining friction coefficient and viscous effects of a concave shaped specimen interface (conformal contact). Two types of DLC such as hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (Ta-C) and one set of micro dimple (diameter of 300µm, depth of 70µm, and pitch of 900µm) were fabricated on metallic prosthesis heads. The experiment results reveal a significant friction coefficient reduction to the 'dimpled a-C:H/ceramic' prosthesis compared to a 'Metal (CoCr)/ceramic' prosthesis because of their improved material and surface properties and viscous effect. The post-experiment surface analysis displays that the dimpled a-C:H yielded a minor change in the surface roughness, and generated a larger sizes of wear debris (40-200nm sized, equivalent diameter), a size which could be certainly stored in the dimple, thus likely to reducing their possible third body abrasive wear rate. Thus, dimpled a:C-H can be used as a 'metal on ceramic hip joint interface', whereas the simulator can be utilized as an advanced bio-tribometer.

Fabrication and characterization of DLC coated microdimples on hip prosthesis heads.

Diamond like carbon (DLC) is applied as a thin film onto substrates to obtain desired surface properties such as increased hardness and corrosion resistance, and decreased friction and wear rate. Microdimple is an advanced surface modification technique enhancing the tribological performance. In this study, DLC coated microdimples were fabricated on hip prosthesis heads and their mechanical, material and surface properties were characterized. An Electro discharge machining (EDM) oriented microdrilling was utilized to fabricate a defined microdimple array (diameter of 300 µm, depth of 70 µm, and pitch of 900 µm) on stainless steel (SS) hip prosthesis heads. The dimpled surfaces were then coated by hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) and tetrahedral amorphous carbon (Ta-C) layers by using a magnetron sputtering technology. A preliminary tribology test was conducted on these fabricated surfaces against a ceramic ball in simulated hip joint conditions. It was found that the fabricated dimples were perpendicular to the spherical surfaces and no cutting-tools wear debris was detected inside the individual dimples. The a-C:H and Ta-C coatings increased the hardness at both the dimple edges and the nondimpled region. The tribology test showed a significant reduction in friction coefficient for coated surfaces regardless of microdimple arrays: the lowest friction coefficient was found for the a-C:H samples (µ = 0.084), followed by Ta-C (µ = 0.119), as compared to the SS surface (µ = 0.248).

In situ measurements of thin films in bovine serum lubricated contacts using optical interferometry.

The aim of this study is to consider the relevance of in situ measurements of bovine serum film thickness in the optical test device that could be related to the function of the artificial hip joint. It is mainly focussed on the effect of the hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the transparent surface and the effect of its geometry. Film thickness measurements were performed using ball-on-disc and lens-on-disc configurations of optical test device as a function of time. Chromatic interferograms were recorded with a high-speed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor digital camera and evaluated with thin film colorimetric interferometry. It was clarified that a chromium layer covering the glass disc has a hydrophobic behaviour which supports the adsorption of proteins contained in the bovine serum solution, thereby a thicker lubricating film is formed. On the contrary, the protein film formation was not observed when the disc was covered with a silica layer having a hydrophilic behaviour. In this case, a very thin lubricating film was formed only due to the hydrodynamic effect. Metal and ceramic balls have no substantial effect on lubricant film formation although their contact surfaces have relatively different wettability. It was confirmed that conformity of contacting surfaces and kinematic conditions has fundamental effect on bovine serum film formation. In the ball-on-disc configuration, the lubricant film is formed predominantly due to protein aggregations, which pass through the contact zone and increase the film thickness. In the more conformal ball-on-lens configuration, the lubricant film is formed predominantly due to hydrodynamic effect, thereby the film thickness is kept constant during measurement.