Finite Element Study of the Effect of UHMWPE Liner Thickness on the Contact Area and Stress Distribution in a Bipolar Hip Joint

Contact area and stress distribution of the polyethylene liner (PE liner) have a major influence on the wear process. The main factor that affects the contact area and stress on the PE liner is thickness. The International Standards Organization (ISO) recommends a minimum PE liner thickness of 6 mm. However, the thickness of PE liner in a bipolar hip prosthesis has a limited range of motion compared to the unipolar one due to the addition of the outer liner component. Therefore, the study of the effect of PE liner thickness on the contact area and stress distribution in the bipolar model is interesting. Theaim of this research is to investigate the effect of the PE liner thickness to the contact area and stress distribution on the surface of contact between head and PE liner and the contact between outer liner and cup in the bipolar model. This research was carried out by finite element analysis. The results showed that the highest contact stress on the liner occurred at the lowest liner thickness. The maximum contact radius on the liner surface took place at the highest liner thickness. The bipolar model with the liner thickness of 4.5 mm in this research provided the lowest contact stress.