Design of a composite hip femoral prosthesis

This paper is a retrospective presentation of the authors’ articles concerning the design and prototype manufacturing of a composite femoral prosthesis. A composite hip femoral prosthesis has been designed and development process is described. The novel hip prosthesis is a multi-material structure composed of a cobalt–chrome core surrounded by a flexible controlled stiffness composite structure and was first assessed by means of finite-element analysis and its predicted performance compared with conventional bonded and press-fit Co–Cr and titanium prostheses. A conceptual prototype was then manufactured and the concept validated through an idealised numerical-experimental procedure that allowed the determination of its graded stiffness.