Preliminary studies regarding load transfer mechanism in total hip prostheses with rolling balls

Abstract

Changing the contact mechanism for the artificial hip joint from one sliding contact between two large surfaces, to a multitude of rolling contacts, could lead to serious problems regarding functionality and durability of the active prosthesis elements. The key to an accurate evaluation of damaging mechanisms acting on THP with rolling balls is a clear and complete picture of load transfer mechanism. The present paper summarize preliminary results regarding dynamics of some original design proposed by authors in [4], combining general nonlinear FE analyses of entire joint with analytical evaluations of local contacts.