The influence of the time-dependent properties of bone cement on stress inthe femoral cement mantle of total hip arthroplasty

An empirically determined formula for the creep behavior of bone cement was incorporated into a validated computer model of a cemented femoral total h ip arthroplasty component. The stress patterns in the cement mantle were ob served over a period of one week, in one instance where the stem-cement int erface was rigidly bonded, and in a second, where it was allowed to slip. P rincipal stresses and maximum shear stresses were shown to decrease rapidly after loading in both situations, suggesting that the stresses generated w ere not high enough to cause immediate failure, although they may be signif icant in the long term. (C) 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.