Evaluating the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of 3D Printed Polylactic-Acid (PLA) Green-Composite for Artificial Implant: Hip Joint Case Study

Abstract

Artificial implants are very essential for the disabled as they are utilized for bone and joint function in orthopedics. However, materials used in such implants suffer from restricted mechanical and tribological properties besides the difficulty of using such materials with complex structures. The current study works on developing a new polymer green composite that can be used for artificial implants and allow design flexibility through its usage with 3D printing technology. Therefore, a natural filler extracted from corn cob (CC) was prepared, mixed homogeneously with the Polylactic-acid (PLA), and passed through a complete process to produce a green composite filament suit 3D printer. The corn cob particles were incorporated with PLA with different weight fractions zero, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The physical, mechanical, and tribological properties of the PLA-CC composites were evaluated. 3D finite element models were constructed to evaluate the PLA-CC composites performance on a real condition implant, hip joints, and through the frictional process. Incorporating corn cob inside PLA revealed an enhancement in the hardness (10%), stiffness (6%), compression ultimate strength (12%), and wear resistance (150%) of the proposed PLA-CC composite. The finite element results of both models proved an enhancement in the load-carrying capacity of the composite. The finite element results came in line with the experimental results.

Comprehensive analysis of 3D printed PA6.6 and fiber‐reinforced variants: Revealing mechanical properties and adhesive wear behavior

“…Comparing the hardness of the materials reveals that the composites exhibit greater hardness than PA, while SCFR‐PA surpasses SGFR‐PA in terms of hardness. This outcome is attributed to factors such as the homogeneous distribution of additives within the matrix, intermolecular interactions, and enhanced load transmission between layers 50 . Therefore, it can be deduced that carbon serves as a more effective reinforcement element for PA compared to glass.…”

“…This outcome is attributed to factors such as the homogeneous distribution of additives within the matrix, intermolecular interactions, and enhanced load transmission between layers. 50 Therefore, it can be deduced that carbon serves as a more effective reinforcement element for PA compared to glass. This finding is also consistent with the mechanical properties.…”

Tribological performance of functional coated fiber reinforced additively manufactured polymer composite

“…The inclusion of graphene nanoparticles to the PLA-CF composites resulted in enhanced tribological and mechanical properties [35]. The incorporation of corn cob into PLA resulted in a 150% enhancement in the material's wear resistance compared to standard PLA [36]. This study examines variations in the durability of carbon fiber reinforced PLA parts when subjected to thermal coating and spin coating methods.…”

Effect of Synthesized Titanium Dioxide Nanofibers Weight Fraction on the Tribological Characteristics of Magnesium Nanocomposites Used in Biomedical Applications

“…Recently, a lot of emphasis on developing new biomedical materials has been given to achieve reliable materials that could be used in biomedical applications [ 7 , 8 ]. Initially, hip joint replacement was used with elderly people; however, nowadays, the technique is used with adults and young people who may be emerged from accidents.…”