Finite element analysis of prosthetic knee joint using ANSYS

Abstract

Degenerative arthritis is a disease that affects the line cartilage of the knee joint. It causes severe pain in the joint and may require a replacement surgery of the affected knee with artificial components. The aim of this research was to study the distribution of contact stresses in prosthetic knee joints made out of polyethylene chopped carbon fibre composite and conventional polyethylene. Commercially available software (ANSYS 8.1) was used in numerical experiments. The effect of the sagittal radius, flexion angles and external load on stresses in the joint were investigated in numerical experiments. Results showed lower contact stresses in the tibial part of the polyethylene chopped carbon fibre composite artificial joint compared to the tibia made out of polyethylene.