Crack growth resistance of alumina, zirconia and zirconia toughened alumina ceramics for joint prostheses.
Mono-phase bio-ceramics (alumina and zirconia) are widely used as femoral heads in total hip replacements (THR) as an alternative to metal devices. Unfortunately, the orthopaedic community reports significant in-vivo failures. Material scientists are already familiar with composites like alumina zirconia. Since both are biocompatible, this could prove to be a new approach to implants. This paper deals with a new generation of alumina-zirconia nano-composites having a high resistance to crack propagation, and as a consequence may offer the option to improve lifetime and reliability of ceramic joint prostheses. The reliability of the above mentioned three bio-ceramics (alumina, zirconia and zirconia toughened alumina) for THR components is analysed based on the study of their slow crack-growth behaviour. The influence of the processing conditions on the microstructure development, of the zirconia toughened alumina composites and the effect of these microstructures, on its mechanical properties, are discussed.
De Aza
A H
AH
GEMPPM (Materials Department), UMR CNRS 5510, National Institute for Applied Sciences, INSA de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France.
Chevalier
J
J
Fantozzi
G
G
Schehl
M
M
Torrecillas
R
R
D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002516:Ceramics; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D006622:Hip Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D015040:Zirconium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; C028541:zirconium oxide