Notched stress–strain behavior of a conventional and a sequentially annealed highly crosslinked UHMWPE

Contemporary total joint replacement designs contain stress-risers such as fillets, grooves, and undercuts; therefore, it is of interest to analyze the behavior of UHMWPEs in the presence of such design-related stress-risers. This study examined the engineering and true axial stress–strain behavior of smooth cylindrical and notched cylindrical test specimens, under applied axial tensile loading (2 displacement rates, 37 °C) for a conventional and a highly crosslinked second generation UHMWPE. Both materials were prepared from ram extruded GUR 1050. The conventional material (30 kGy) was gamma sterilized at 30 kGy in an inert N2 environment. The sequentially annealed material (SA) was gamma irradiated at 30 kGy and annealed for 8 h at 130 °C. The irradiation-annealing process was repeated two more times for an overall irradiation dose of 90 kGy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was utilized to investigate changes in crystallinity and lamellar thickness distributions upon loading. Fractographic analysis of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of fracture surfaces was performed to investigate changes in fracture micromechanism with notching. Both the 30 kGy and SA materials, in the smooth condition, demonstrated substantial ductility and orientation hardening. With the introduction of a notch, both materials demonstrated an elevation in the yield stress (notch strengthening) and a reduction in the ultimate stress and ultimate strain at both displacement rates. Additionally, it was found that the uniaxial stress-state (smooth condition) allowed for greater changes in crystallinity and the lamellar thickness distributions, when compared to the untested materials, than the triaxial stress-state induced by the notched geometry.