Apparent fracture toughness of acrylic bone cement: effect of test specimen configuration and sterilization method

The plane strain fracture toughness of Palacos R bone cement was determined using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) principles and three different test specimen configurations: single edge notched three-point (SENB), rectangular compact tension (RCT), and chevron notched short rod (CNSR). Another aspect of the study was an investigation of the effect of three methods used to sterilize the powder constituents of the cement-none, gamma irradiation and ethylene oxide--on the fracture toughness of the fully polymerized material. A detailed justification is provided for using LEFM. The fracture toughness results obtained using the CNSR specimens were, on average, 14 and 16% higher than those obtained using the SENB and RCT types, respectively. These differences are accounted for in terms of differences in four aspects of these specimen configuration (namely, residual stress effects, loading rate, material inhomogeneity, and the nature of the test). For a given specimen configuration, gamma irradiation produced a statistically significant decrease in fracture toughness which, it is suggested, is due to the concomitant depreciation in molecular weight. For a given cement type, there is no statistically significant difference in fracture toughness results obtained using SENB and RCT specimens. It is thus suggested that either of these configurations can be used to determine the fracture toughness of acrylic bone cement.