title: Fatigue fracture of the stem-cement interface with a clamped cantilever beam test.
abstract: A clamped cantilever beam test was developed to determine the fatigue crack propagation rate of the CoCr alloy/PMMA cement interface at high crack tip phase angles. A combination of finite element and experimental methods was used to determine the fatigue crack growth rates of two different CoCr alloy/PMMA cement surfaces. A crack tip phase angle of 69 deg was found, indicating that loading at the crack tip was mixed-mode with a large degree of in-plane shear loading. The energy required to propagate a crack at the interface was much greater for the plasma-sprayed CoCr surface when compared to the PMMA-precoated satin finish (p < 0.001). Both interface surfaces could be modeled using a Paris fatigue crack growth law over crack propagation rates of 10(-4) to 10(-9) m/cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Heuer
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mann
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001843:Bone Cements; D002858:Chromium Alloys; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D008422:Materials Testing; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D016474:Weight-Bearing
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001843:Bone Cements; D002858:Chromium Alloys; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate