Failure Analysis of Ti alloy Screws in Fixing Fractured Spines

摘要

Failure analyses of the screws in spinal fixation devices were carried out. The fractured screws were retrieved from a patient who had spinal surgery in the thoracic vertebrae from number 10 to 15. The failure occurred one month after the removal of the braces. Microstructures and fracture surfaces were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The microstructures of the screws corresponded to annealed Ti-6A1-4V bar. However, in the vicinity of the screw surface, there was an insufficient number of fine precipitates. Fracture surfaces showed typical fatigue failure modes. Regarding the fact that no machining defects were detected, fatigue crack initiation might have been caused by the lack of precipitates near the screw surfaces. Only the fourth of five fixed screws was severely stress-concentrated by the action of the spinal bones, while the stress of the 4th screw was decreased to half of its acceptable level when the screw was supplemented by one more, which might have been fixed in the 6th vertebra under the 5th position by the switching of its position. The stress simulation was conducted by ANSYS with 3D CAD of PRO/E in order to understand the stress concentration behavior and to provide an effective spinal surgery guide.