Potential of wear resistant coatings on Ti–6Al–4V for artificial hip joint bearing surfaces

Tribological screening tests (simple, reciprocating ball-on-flat tests) were performed with the objective to identify an appropriate coating for the articulating surfaces of artificial hip joints whose acetabular cups and femoral stems are made from Ti–6Al–4V alloy, which is appreciated for its light weight, good biocompatibility and elastic properties similar to those of natural bone. Standard coatings like TiN or CrN performed better than more complicated multi-layer systems, though not as good as different types of amorphous carbon coatings, generally referred to as diamond-like carbon or DLC coatings. Among the latter, hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) displayed the best properties, especially if the hydrogen content was increased by reducing the bias voltage during PA-CVD-deposition.