title: The influence of nominal stress on wear factors of carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK-OPTIMA® Wear Performance) against zirconia toughened alumina (Biolox® delta ceramic).
abstract: Carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone is an attractive alternative to ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene in artificial joints, but little has been published on the influence of stress on the wear factor. We know that in ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, the wear factor reduces as the normal stress increases, which is counter-intuitive but very helpful in the case of non-conforming contacts. In this study, carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK-OPTIMA®Wear Performance) has been investigated in a pin-on-plate machine under steady loads and under stresses typical of hip and knee joints. At stresses below about 6 MPa, wear factors are between 10 and a 100 times lower than for ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene but at higher stresses the wear factors increase substantially.
authors.affiliation: Mott MacDonald, London, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Bristol University, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Henrietta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK tony.unsworth@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unsworth
authors.affiliation: Invibio Ltd, Thornton-Cleveleys, UK.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Briscoe
keywords: Wear analysis/testing; bio-composites; biomaterials; tribology of materials