Fatigue analysis of cemented hip prosthesis: damage accumulation scenario and sensitivity analysis

Abstract This work is dedicated to the fatigue analysis of cemented total hip arthroplasty. In particular the damage evaluation scenario is simulated and a sensitivity analysis is performed. To this end, two different damage evaluation algorithms (the elasto-brittle and the continuous damage one) are proposed and implemented in the finite element code ABAQUS ® . Some global damage criteria are introduced to quantify the damage accumulation. The continuous damage algorithm is shown to perform better compared to the elasto-brittle damage one in the estimation of the fatigue lifetime of the cement mantle. A sensitivity analysis is then performed as a function of the cement Young's modulus, the stem–cement friction coefficient and the stem Young's modulus. Numerical results show a significant sensitivity to variations of the cement Young's modulus and stem–cement friction coefficient and a moderate sensitivity to the stem Young's modulus.