Crack growth resistance of alumina, zirconia and zirconia toughened alumina ceramics for joint prostheses

Mono-phase bio-ceramics (alumina and zirconia) are widely used as femoral heads in total hip replacements (THR) as an alternative to metal devices. Unfortunately, the orthopaedic community reports significant in-vivo failures. Material scientists are already familiar with composites like alumina–zirconia. Since both are biocompatible, this could prove to be a new approach to implants. This paper deals with a new generation of alumina–zirconia nano-composites having a high resistance to crack propagation, and as a consequence may offer the option to improve lifetime and reliability of ceramic joint prostheses. The reliability of the above mentioned three bio-ceramics (alumina, zirconia and zirconia toughened alumina) for THR components is analysed based on the study of their slow crack-growth behaviour. The influence of the processing conditions on the microstructure development, of the zirconia toughened alumina composites and the effect of these microstructures, on its mechanical properties, are discussed.