Multilevel numerical model of hip joint accounting for friction in the hip resurfacing endoprosthesis

Abstract

Friction between the moving parts of the endoprosthesis has a significant impact on the endoprosthesis operation time. Primarily, it concerns the endoprosthesis of hip and knee joints. To improve the tribological characteristics of the metal endoprosthesis, hardening nanostructured coatings are used. Usually, titanium and titanium alloys are used as metal, and titanium nitride is used as a coating. Herein, we propose an approach to multilevel modeling of the system “bone-endoprosthesis” which is based on the movable cellular automaton method and accounts for friction between the moving parts of the hip resurfacing endoprosthesis. We validated the models of the friction system materials using the instrumented scratch test simulation. Then, we simulated friction at the mesolevel, explicitly considering roughness of the coating. The results obtained at the mesolevel were used as tribological characteristics of the coating in the macroscopic model of the hip resurfacing endoprosthesis.