Study on the Biotribological Properties of Ti6Al7Nb and Ultra High Density Molecular Weight Polyethylene at Different Lubricant Temperature

Abstract

Higher frictional heat will be produced during the service process of artificial hip joint prosthesis in vivo than natural joint, which would cause the rise of the temperature of synovial fluid and the change of the wear resistance of prosthetic materials. In this work, the biotribological properties of ZrO₂/Ti6Al7Nb and ZrO₂/UHMWPE pairs at different lubricant temperatures were investigated. The results show that there is a strong correlation between the wettability and average friction coefficient of Ti6Al7Nb, while there is also a strong correlation between the wettability and mass loss of UHMWPE. The wear loss of Ti6Al7Nb and UHMWPE decreases gradually and the friction coefficient increases gradually as the lubricant temperature rises from 20 ℃ to 46 ℃, which is mainly affected by the precipitation process of protein. As a protective layer, it can reduce the wear rate, but as a third body, it can participate in the friction process and increase the friction coefficient. The characteristics of lubricant change greatly at 60 ℃, but the increase of temperature is not the only reason for the precipitation of synovial protein. The synergistic effect with the friction process results in a significant change on the wear mechanism of Ti6Al7Nb and UHMWPE under this condition. The wear mechanism of Ti6Al7Nb is mainly abrasive wear and adhesion wear at different lubricant temperature. With the increase of lubricant temperature, the proportion of adhesion wear mechanism becomes larger. Due to the low thermal deformation temperature and thermal conductivity, the wear mechanism of UHMWPE changed obviously at 60 ℃, and the wear morphology is mainly plastic deformation.