Comportamento Meccanico di Steli Protesici Femorali: Analisi con il Metodo Delgi Elementi Finiti a Supporto delle Prove Meccaniche a Fatica (Mechanical Behaviour of Femoral Stems: Analysis by Finite Elements Method to Support Fatigue Mechanical Tests)

摘要

The mechanical behaviour of prosthetic femoral stems, in Europe classified as class III medical devices, are commonly analysed by means of experimental tests. Such tests, usually performed according to technical international standards voluntarily applied by both fabricants and Notified Bodies, are obviously destructive, thus each femoral stem can only undergo no more than one test. It is thus particularly interesting to implement computational models by using finite elements methods, since they allow to setup simulation studies where the stress distribution is analysed with respect to different positioning on the anatomical planes--frontal and sagittal--and different maximum loading. Mechanical tests are then implemented under the most critical conditions only. The here reported study has been conducted within a specific agreement with the Italian Ministry of Health. This report describes the computational models which have been implemented and validated, and the interesting results of the preliminary mechanical tests.