Finite Element Analysis of Different Hip Implant Designs along with Femur under Static Loading Conditions

The hip joint is the largest joint after the knee, which gives stability to the whole human structure. The hip joint consists of a femoral head which articulates with the acetabulum. Due to age and wear between the joints, these joints need to be replaced with implants which can function just as a natural joint. Since the early 19th century, the hip joint arthroplasty has evolved, and many advances have been taken in the field which improved the whole procedure. Currently, there is a wide variety of implants available varying in the length of stem, shapes, and sizes.

In this analytical study of femur, circular, oval, ellipse and trapezoidal-shaped stem designs are considered in the present study. The human femur is modeled using Mimics. CATIA V-6 is used to model the implant models. Static structural analysis is carried out using ANSYS R-19 to evaluate the best implant design.

All the four hip implants exhibited the von Mises stresses, lesser than its yielded strength. However, circular and trapezoidal-shaped stems have less von Mises stress compared to ellipse and oval.

This study shows the behavior of different implant designs when their cross-sections are varied. Further, these implants can be considered for dynamic analysis considering different gait cycles. By optimizing the implant design, life expectancy of the implant can be improved, which will avoid the revision of the hip implant in active adult patients.