Application of the Small Punch Test to UHMWPE

Chapter 13 Development and Application of the Small Punch Test to UHMWPE... 

This chapter reviews the development and application of miniature specimen mechanical testing techniques, based on the small punch test, to the characterization of UHMWPE components for total joint replacement. The development of the small punch test as applied to UHMWPE was motivated by two clinically relevant and related problems the relationship between process and system variables and polymer degradation, and the relationship between mechanical properties and the ensuing wear of the arthroplasty bearing. To a first order approximation, the polymer degradation problem was motivated by mechanical failure of tibial plateau bearings, and the wear problem was motivated by the clinical need to reduce the prevalence of small-particle mediated late-onset osteolysis in total hip arthroplasty systems. 

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