Degradation of alumina and zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) hip prostheses tested under microseparation conditions in a shock device

This paper considers the degradation of alumina and zirconia toughened alumina vs. alumina for hip implants. The materials are as assumed to be load bearing surfaces subjected to shocks in wet conditions. The load is a peak of force; 9 kN was applied over 15 ms at 2 Hz for 800,000 cycles. The volumetric wear and roughness are lower for ZTA than for alumina. The long ZTA ageing did not seem to have a direct influence on the roughness. The ageing increased the wear volumes of ZTA and it was found to have a higher wear resistance compared to alumina.