Comparative stress analysis of different suitable biomaterials for artificial hip joint and femur bone using finite element simulation

At the early age of the joint replacements, natural metals like iron, gold and zinc were used. With the advancement in material science, new biomaterials (alloyed materials and high grade of polymeric composites) were developed. The significance of these biomaterials is higher load-carrying capacity, good wear resistance and compatibility to human body and tissues unlike the natural metals. In this study four different biomaterials (three sets of alloy metals and one set of polymeric composites) are considered. The current investigation is focused on the design and modelling of artificial femur head and bone using finite element analysis (FEA) under various loading conditions, walking posture. Different solid and shell type elements (8 node 183, 8 node 185, 20 node 186, concrete 65, quad 4 node 182, SOLSH 190) are implemented in finite element simulation. The simulation is optimised using convergence test. The possibility of use various elements in the meshed model are explored. Pools of materials are investigated under different walking posture and body weight. The relation of femur head geometry with maximum stress intensity and deflection are investigated. The viability of the proposed FE simulation model is performed. It is observed that variations of the results are within 2 %.