Multi-Scale Topology Optimization of Femoral Stem Structure Subject to Stress Shielding Reduce

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 3151
• Main Authors: Xiao, Zhongmin, Wu, Longfei, Wu, Wenqiang, Tang, Ruizhi, Dai, Jietao, Zhu, Dachang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Biomedical materials; Compliance; Composite materials; Density; Design; Design optimization; Errors; Femoral components; Femur; Finite element method; Hip joint; Implants, Artificial; Isotropic material; Joint replacement surgery; Mechanical properties; Mechanical transmissions; Optimization; Orthopaedic implants; Prostheses; Prosthesis; Stiffness; Stress management; Stress shielding; Titanium alloys; Topology optimization; Transplants & implants; Variables; topology optimization; multi-scale conditions; finite element analysis; stress shielding; femoral stem
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16083151

Hip replacement femoral implants are made of substantial materials that all have stiffness considerably higher than that of bone, which can cause significant bone resorption secondary to stress shielding and lead to severe complications. The topology optimization design method based on the uniform distribution of material micro-structure density can form a continuous mechanical transmission route, which can better solve the problem of reducing the stress shielding effect. A multi-scale parallel topology optimization method is proposed in this paper and a topological structure of type B femoral stem is derived. Using the traditional topology optimization method (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization, SIMP), a topological structure of type A femoral stem is also derived. The sensitivity of the two kinds of femoral stems to the change of load direction is compared with the variation amplitude of the structural flexibility of the femoral stem. Furthermore, the finite element method is used to analyze the stress of type A and type B femoral stem under multiple conditions. Simulation and experimental results show that the average stress of type A and type B femoral stem on the femur are 14.80 MPa, 23.55 MPa, 16.94 MPa and 10.89 MPa, 20.92 MPa, 16.50 MPa, respectively. For type B femoral stem, the average error of strain is −1682με and the average relative error is 20.3% at the test points on the medial side and the mean error of strain is 1281με and the mean relative error is 19.5% at the test points on the outside.