Wear resistance, plastics mechanical behavior

A thorough understanding of the mechanics of UHMWPE is important for efforts to improve the performance of orthopedic components. Elastic properties, resistance to plastic deformation, stress and strain at failure, fatigue behavior, and wear resistance of UHMWPE are believed to play roles in the life expectancy of an UHMWPE bearing. There exists a fundamental relationship between a material s intrinsic mechanical properties, akin to state variables, and how a structure made of the material will respond under mechanical stimuli. This material-specific fundamental relationship is referred to as a constitutive model. A validated constitutive model is a required input to a finite element (FE)-based simulahon of a structure made of the material in question. 

---