Computer simulation on fatigue behavior of cemented hip prostheses: a physiological model

This paper is concerned with the investigation on the fatigue failure of implant fixation by numerical approaches. A computer algorithm based on finite element analysis and continuum damage mechanics was proposed to quantify the fatigue damage rate of cement mantle under physiological conditions. In examining the interfacial debonding effect, the interface elements were introduced at cement-stem interfaces and calibrated with the increase of loading cycles. Current results reveal that the major sites for failure initiation are in the proximal anterior-medial regions and at the distal prosthesis tip, which clearly demonstrate the same failure scenario as observed in clinical studies. Such fatigue failures not only result in the corruption of cement-stem interfaces, but also greatly affect the cement stress distribution and the damage rate in subsequent loading cycles. Another significant result is that the predicted damage rate increases steadily with gait cycles. This trend in damage development is consistent with the findings obtained from fatigue tests available in literature. It is anticipated that presented methodology can serve as a pre-clinical validation of cemented hip prostheses.