The computational approach to predicting wear: comparison of wear performance of CFR-PEEK and XLPE liners in total hip replacement

Abstract

Wear on articulating bearing surfaces is a key factor causing revision in total hip replacement (THR). Wear debris that releases particles from bearing surfaces might result in adverse soft tissue reactions requiring revision surgeries. In this study, a comprehensive computational wear model based on the Archard wear equation was performed to investigate the wear performance under a three-dimensional (3D) physiological gait cycle, mimicking a normal walking condition (5 million cycles). The study shows that the accuracy of the model is highly dependent on the mesh convergence, the wear fraction, and the scaling factor. The simulations were run to provide a vast amount of detail for the reproducibility of the work. Cobalt chromium (CoCr) on cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) and CoCr on carbon-fiber-reinforced polyether ether ketone (CFR-PEEK) prototype models were created in silico. The volumetric wear rates for CoCr-on-XLPE were calculated as 0.2989 (Formula presented.) for CoCr head and 21.0271 (Formula presented.) for XLPE liner, while for CoCr-on-CFR-PEEK they were 0.3484 (Formula presented.) for CoCr head and 1.8476 (Formula presented.) for CFR-PEEK liner. When compared to in vivo and in vitro studies, the wear patterns of these two prototypes are consistent with those of the conventional polyethylene liners in the literature. Although the volumetric wear rate of the CFR-PEEK liner is about 11 times lower than the counterpart of XLPE in MoP implants, the wear rate of CoCr was higher when compared to its use with XLPE. Therefore, CFR-PEEK articulating against orthopa\edic metals may not be as good an alternative as XLPE, due to higher indicative metallic wear. This detailed computational wear modeling methodology could be utilized in design improvements of implants.