Analysis of a retrieved squeaking ceramic-on-ceramic hip arthroplasty bearing

Abstract

Ceramic-on-ceramic bearings in total hip replacements have shown superior wear performance compared to other material couples. However, 1–10% of patients have reported squeaking with the use of ceramic-on-ceramic bearings. A ceramic-on-ceramic bearing was retrieved from a patient after 4.5 years in service secondary to squeaking. The explant was analyzed to investigate the possible factors attributing to the hip squeak utilizing acoustic analysis, visual inspection, modal analysis, random vibration analysis, and mathematical modeling. Random vibration analysis of the parts of the implant showed that boundary conditions along the metallic shell play an important role in squeal occurrence. The implant also showed the evidence of material transfer. Using the results of modal analysis, a 2-degree of freedom friction model demonstrated the influence of third body material transfer on the stability of the system to be an important factor in squeaking. The mathematical parametric analysis showed that a larger mass creates more instability, and hence more noise and vibration. Increased stiffness of the shell proved to stabilize the system for most loading conditions. Limit-cycle plots showed a definite change in the system behavior but stability was maintained through a significant increase in contact stiffness.

Keywords

Ceramic-on-ceramic friction hip arthroplasty squeaking vibration

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