Relationship between wear behaviour of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and surface profile of Co–Cr–Mo alloy in artificial joint

The relationship between the wear behaviour of an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (GUR1050) pin and surface profile of a Co-28Cr-6Mo alloy (ASTM F-75) disc was investigated. Tribological tests have been performed by pin-on-disc wear testing machine with multi-directional pathways, obtaining the influence of micro slurry-jet erosion (MSE) processed Co–Cr–Mo alloy. The specific wear and the wear particles have been investigated. It was elucidated that the Co–Cr–Mo alloy surface processed by MSE influenced the specific wear rate of polyethylene; however, the morphological aspect of polyethylene wear particles was not drastically changed. The wear particles isolated from the lubricating liquid were added to a culture medium, and human monocyte-derived macrophages were incubated by using an upright/inverted method. The production of TNF-α and IL-6 seemed to have a correlation with the amount of wear particles added, however, the influence of particle size on the production of TNF-α and IL-6 was not obvious. This means that the improvements for the incubation method, i.e. upright/inverted method, need further investigation for the accurate analysis.