Understanding friction and wear of biomaterials when in contact with articular cartilage is vital within the development of future hemi-arthroplasty and cartilage substitution. This study aimed to compare the frictional properties of single phase and biphasic polymeric materials against articular cartilage. Continuous sliding friction was applied by means of a simple geometry wear simulator. The single-phase polymers produced peak frictional values of 0.37(±0.02). The biphasic hydrogel produced a peak frictional coefficient of 0.17(±0.05). It is postulated that this reduction in friction can be attributed to its biphasic properties, which instigates the fluid phase load carriage within the articular cartilage/hydrogel interface to be maintained for longer, reducing the frictional coefficient. This study illustrates the importance of biphasic properties within the tribology of future cartilage substitution materials.

Volume Subject Area:
Biomaterials and Biomedical Applications
Topics:
Biomaterials, Cartilage, Sliding friction, Friction, Hydrogels, Wear, Arthroplasty, Fluids, Geometry, Polymers, Railroad passenger cars, Stress, Tribology
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Copyright © 2005
 by ASME
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