A New Simulator for Bio-Tribological Study

A new bio-tribological simulator system was designed and built for basic wear tests on artificial hip joint materials and for common tribological studies applications. The module of hip joint simulator is consisted of Flexion and Extension (FE), Abduction and Adduction (AA) and Internal and External Rotation (IER). Preliminary tests were done with a 28 mm CoCrMo femoral head and a Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) cup. Results showed that the wear rate was close to the clinical one. A frequency control system and a heating system were developed to offer a wide range of rotation frequency and temperature so as to provide proper experiments. In the Pin-on-Disk (POD) part, eight precision-made pins were generated and an advanced computer system was built up to measure the friction coefficient of the tests samples.