Fracture toughness of steel‐fiber‐reinforced bone cement

Abstract Fractures in the bone‐cement mantle (polymethyl methacrylate) have been linked to the failure of cemented total joint prostheses. The heat generated by the curing bone cement has also been implicated in the necrosis of surrounding bone tissue, leading to loosening of the implants. The addition of reinforcements may improve the fracture properties of bone cement and decrease the peak temperatures during curing. This study investigates the changes in the fracture properties and the temperatures generated in the ASTM F451 tests by the addition of 316L stainless steel fibers to bone cement. The influence of filler volume fraction (5–15% by volume) and aspect ratios (19, 46, 57) on the fracture toughness of the acrylic bone cement was assessed. Increasing the volume fraction of the steel fibers resulted in significant increases in the fracture toughness of the steel‐fiber‐reinforced composite. Fracture‐toughness increases of up to 2.63 times the control values were obtained with the use of steel‐fiber reinforcements. No clear trend in the fracture toughness was discerned for increasing aspect ratios of the reinforcements. There is a decrease in the peak temperatures reached during the curing of the steel‐fiber‐reinforced bone cement, though the decrease is too small to be clinically relevant. Large increases in the fatigue life of acrylic bone cement were also obtained by the addition of steel fibers. These results indicate that the use of steel fibers may enhance the durability of cemented joint prostheses. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 70A: 514–521, 2004