MECHANICAL SIMULATION OF COMPOSITE HIP STEMS

Calculation of new orthopedic implants prior to manufacturing of proto types can be economic in the case of complex production processes. The use of composite materials for highly loaded hip stems is one applica tion of the Finite-Element Method. Due to the anisotropic behaviour of composite structures, special routines had to be programmed for eleme nt alignment and failure analysis. Stability of carbon fibre-reinforce d epoxy hip stems could be confirmed by experimental results. The risk of neck fracture was found to De one of the critical features in the design process. (C) 1997 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.