Tribological and microstructural characterization of laser microtextured CoCr alloy tested against UHMWPE for biomedical applications

The longevity of metal-on-polyethylene (MoP) joint replacements, in which a polished CoCr component articulates with a polyethylene liner, may be restricted by mechanical instability or inflammation resulting from osteolysis caused by polyethylene wear debris. Recently, laser surface texturing (LST) has emerged as an effective method to improve the tribological performance of lubricated friction pairs. The present work reports a microstructural and tribological study of surface microtextured CoCr alloy discs, modified by the LST method using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser, tested against Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) cylindrical pins. Four different texturing patterns varying laser parameters such as peak power, pulse width, repetition rate and travel speed were investigated. An untextured set of CoCr alloy discs was used as reference. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the microtextured CoCr alloy discs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, profilometry and nanoindentation test. The coefficient of friction and wear of the UHMWPE pins were determined by means of a pin-on-disc tribometer under lubricated sliding conditions. The microstructural analysis on the laser microtextured CoCr alloy revealed a grain refinement of secondary phases with absence of typical carbides resulting in an increased nanohardness. In addition, all texturing patterns on the CoCr alloy discs promoted a reduction on the coefficient of friction, compared against untextured CoCr alloy discs. Furthermore, it was found that UHMWPE wear was reduced when articulating against dimple textured CoCr alloy discs.