DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE OF BIOACTIVE PARTICLE REINFORCEDPOLYMER COMPOSITES DEVELOPED FOR HARD TISSUE REPAIR

摘要

By mimicking the microstructure of human cortical bone, a variety of bioactive particle reinforced polymer composites havebeen developed for hard tissue repair.Apart from biological assessments, these composites must be fully evaluated in termsof their mechanical performance before they can be used in patients.Using the first bioactive ceramic-polymer composite, I.e.,hydroxyapatite reinforced high density polyethylene (HA/HDPE, commercially known as HAPEXTM), as an example, thedeformation and fracture of bioactive particulate composites under different loading modes (tensile, compression, bending,fatigue, creep, etc.) is demonstrated in this paper.The studies on mechanical performance of HA/HDPE composite haveprovided not only essential information and data for the clinical use of this material but also guidance for developing otherbioactive ceramic-polymer composites.