Numerical study of the effect of elastomer and cement of stress absorbers on the reduction of stresses in tibia and tibial bone analysed by finite element method

Abstract

Metal alloys have been the materials of choice since the start of orthopaedic surgery. Orthopedic materials must fulfill the mechanical, biological and physical necessities of their proposed utilization. Knee joint is the most complex joint in human body, which gets the discriminating loads in different moving conditions. Accordingly, the material utilized for knee implant is assumed the exceptionally essential part for long survival of knee prosthesis. The materials that are utilized as biomaterials incorporate polymers, metals, ceramics and composites. Out of those materials, cobalt-chromium alloys, titanium alloys, stainless steel and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene are the most usually utilized biomaterials for knee implants. The objective of this paper is to prepare three models of prosthesis knee joint from available literature and study on the distribution of von Mises stresses and strains in different components of knee prosthesis. It is known that the total displacement between the intact model and the artificial model of knee, 3D modeling software Solidworks 2016 is used for 3D modeling of knee prosthesis, and that finite element analysis software ANSYS 16.2 was used for numerical estimation of von Mises stresses and strains. We found in this study that the maximum von Mises stresses and strains at the level of the tibial and tibial bone decreased, that is to say, the cement and the elastomer played a very important role in the absorption of the stresses and their minimization. On the other hand, the four knee prostheses (model I (Ti6Al4V), model II (CoCrMo), model III (316L SS), model IV (ZrO2)) implanted by elastomer contributed significantly to the reduction of stresses in the patella bone compared to the intact model. In general, both models of the knee prosthesis and those reinforced by a stress reduction system (cement or elastomer) gave a lower stress level in the tibia and tibial bone of a normal person compared to a healthy model. The results obtained provide a theoretical basis for choosing an appropriate surgical model.