Effects of mechanical testing device variables on polymer composite femoral stem strains

Polymer composite femoral stems do not have a well-established in vitro mechanical testing method. The objective of this study was to examine mechanical testing devices for pressfit composite stems, using finite element analysis. The goals were to examine the effects of testing device design variables (geometry, material, interface friction, embedding height and applied load angle) and to reproduce the maximum strains of the stem implanted in a femur. The stem strains were affected by design changes to the testing device. The maximum normal and interlaminar shear strains of the composite stem in the femur were not as well reproduced by the testing device as were the maximum in-plane tensile strains. Decreasing the embedding height increased the stem strains and shifted the stem failure location from the neck to the embedding height. Testing a femoral stem using a testing device with a low embedding height may be inappropriate when trying to induce neck failure, since failure may occur at the embedding height instead of in the neck. A single-material testing device of birchwood, an orthotropic material with a longitudinal stiffness in the range of bone, best simulated a femur in this study.