Estimation of fatigue lifetime of a cervical disc prosthesis using finite element and experimental investigation of the amount of wear

Subject Areas : Journal of Simulation and Analysis of Novel Technologies in Mechanical Engineering

Sana Ghafarmoghadam ¹ , Alireza Seifzadeh ² , Ali Mokhtarian ³ , Reza Abedinzadeh ⁴

1 - PhD Student of Mechanical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, Iran
2 - Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, Iran
3 - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, Iran
4 - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khomeinishahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr, Isfahan, Iran

Received: 2023-10-11 Accepted : 2024-05-12 Published : 2024-09-01

Keywords: Fatigue, Lifetime, Wear, Cervical disc prosthesis, Finite element,

Abstract :

One of the main problems of cervical disc implants is the wear caused by the overlapping of the surfaces, leading to a reduction in the fatigue lifetime of the prosthesis, which in turn results in premature removal of the implant from the patient's body. To obtain the amount of wear and fatigue lifetime of the cervical disc implant, first, a three-dimensional model of a cervical disc implant (prodisc-C), consisting of a core made of ultra-high molecular weight polymer (UHMWPE) material with upper and lower plates made of cobalt-chromium and titanium, was designed in Solidworks software. Then it was transferred to Abaqus software to evaluate the von Mises stress distribution under the application of a concentrated force of 73.6 N. Afterward, the results of this simulation were inputted into the Fe-safe software and the fatigue lifetime of the implant was calculated. Furthermore, the wear rate of the polymer used in the central core was experimentally investigated. The calculation results of the maximum fatigue lifetime cycle of the prosthesis were acquired in three positions in the upper plane, middle plane, and lower plane. The wear volume (i.e., volumetric wear) obtained numerically during 10,000,000 cycles was equal to 17.5 mm3, and the wear mass acquired by the wear test during the probe movement on the sample in a 1000 m distance was equal to 0.005 gr.

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