WEAR BEHAVIOR OF DISCONTINUOUS ARAMID FIBER-REINFORCED ULTRA-HIGH-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE

The wear of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene has generated new concern regarding the long-term clinical performance of total joint r eplacements. To extend the lifetime of artificial joints, it is necess ary to decrease tt-le wear rate of UHMWPE. One possible solution is th e incorporation of aramid fibres. Wear rates were determined with a pi n-on-roll apparatus with a nominal contact stress of 3.0 MPa at a slid ing velocity of 0.24 m/s. The volumetric wear rate decreases with the incorporation of the fibres. A minimum in wear rate is observed at 5 v olume percent fibres.