The effect of molecular orientation and acetylene-enhanced crosslinking on the wear of UHMWPE in total artificial joints

Abstract

This paper investigates the benefits of combining roll-drawing and acetylene-enhanced crosslinking to alter the mechanical properties of the ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) used in total hip and knee replacements, with the aim of improving its resistance to wear. UHMWPE was processed via crosslinking, roll-drawing and a combination of crosslinking and roll-drawing and subjected to gel content analysis, tensile tests, X-ray diffraction and wear tests using different types of motion and smooth and rough counterfaces.

Purely roll-drawn materials with length and width draw ratios of λ _l × λ _w = 1.3 × 1.0 and λ _l × λ _w = 1.6 × 0.9 respectively, were found to have lower wear factors in a unidirectional motion test with a rough counterface when compared to the virgin material.

The crosslinked roll-drawn material, with length and width draw ratios of λ_l × λ_w = 1.6 × 0.9, was seen to possess five crosslinks per initial number average molecule. This crosslinked and roll-drawn material showed 5.5 times less wear than the virgin material in a multidirectional motion test with a smooth counterface and 1.4 times more wear than the virgin material in a unidirectional motion test with a rough counterface. Hence this study supports previous work by the authors that acetylene-enhanced crosslinked materials may show benefits for a total hip replacement, but only where the femoral head remains smooth. The improvements in wear with the roll-drawn material in unidirectional tests were smaller, but may prove to have some benefits in the knee. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers