Potential of improving tribological performance of UHMWPE by engineering the Ti6Al4V counterfaces

Recently, some novel surface engineering techniques have been developed, which may be used for extending lifetime of artificial joints; however, the full potential will not be realised until the tribological behaviour of surface engineered bio-medical materials has been fully characterised. In the present investigation, a pin-on-disc tribometer has been used to evaluate the tribological response of UHMWPE to untreated, PVD DLC coated, nitrogen ion implanted, ‘TO’-treated, ‘OD’-treated Ti6Al4V counterfaces under water lubricated conditions. Experimental results showed that the tribological behaviour of UHMWPE under water lubricated sliding conditions could be significantly improved by all these surface engineering techniques. The TO treatment has been identified as the most effective surface engineering technique for Ti6Al4V counterfaces, to reduce the wear of UHMWPE. This is can be attributed to the surface oxide layer formed during the TO treatment, which has favourable tribological compatibility with UHMWPE. q 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All