An investigation on mechanical failure of hip joint using finite element method

The aim of this work was to study how the stress distributions of the hip joint's components were changed if the activity was switched from walking to stair climbing for three different prostheses types subjected to either concentrated or distributed load. In the scope of the study, three different cemented prostheses, namely, Charnley, Muller, and Hipokrat were used for cemented total hip arthroplasty (THA) reconstruction. The finite element modeling of the hip joint with prosthesis was developed for both hip contact and muscle forces during walking and stair climbing activities. The finite element analyses were then pursued for both concentrated and distributed loading conditions applied statically on these models. Maximum von Mises stresses and strains occurred on the cortical and trabecular layers of bones; prosthesis and cement mantle were determined in order to investigate the mechanical failure of cemented THA reconstruction subjected to the different femoral loading and the activity conditions. This study showed that prosthesis, loading, and activity types had a significant effect on the stresses of components of the hip joint utilized for predicting mechanical failure of the cemented THA reconstruction.