NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS CONCERNING THE I NFLUENCE OF A HIP-JOINT REPLACEMENT ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STRAIN-ENERGY DENSITY WITHIN THE FEMUR

In this study the distribution of the strain energy density (SED) in t he natural femur as well as changes of it due to the implantation of a n artificial hip joint has been investigated. Because of recently publ ished theoretical considerations the volume related SED was used to de scribe the respective biomechanical loading situation completely. By m eans of parameter variation different loadcases were simulated. The ca lculated SED-distributions were compared with the respective results o f the natural femur. Thus, the known reasons of failures of hip joint prostheses has been proofed numerical. It was shown that the SED is a suitable mechanical parameter to simulate bone remodeling after hip jo int replacement.