Metallurgical Failure Analysis of Various Implant Materials used in orthopedic applications

摘要

This study investigated implants made of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V and 316L steel that were obtained from revision operations between 1993 and 2002. The operations were required because of various types of implant failures. This paper illustrates nine cases of metallurgical failures of a total hip prosthesis, femoral compression plates, femoral nail plates, spinal rods, vertebral implants, and intramedullar nails fabricated from stainless steel and titanium alloy. The most common causes of the implant failures evaluated were stress-corrosion fatigue and wear. The other contributing factors for the implant failures were production errors, Existence of inclusions, stress gaps from manufacturing routes, and loosening of implant material from bone due to lack of osseointegration.