Abstract
Introduction
Dl-α-Tocopherol (VE)-blended non-crosslinked UHMWPE has been developed as a bearing surface material for knee prostheses due to the radical scavenging capabilities of vitamin E and has demonstrated a low wear rate in knee simulator testing [1,2]. In previous our study, VE-blended, crosslinked UHMWPE has demonstrated a low wear rate in hip simulator testing [3, 4]. As the radical scavenging capabilities also reduce the crosslinking degree of the material, multiple dose crosslinking has been investigated. However, these crosslinked UHMWPE materials may have different mechanical properties, as each crosslinking process, especially the annealing condition, is different. Additionally, there is little information about VE-blended, crosslinked UHMWPE with different annealing conditions. In this study, the effect of annealing temperature was investigated with regard to tensile strength, crosslink density, and crystallinity of VE blended, crosslinked UHMWPE.
Method
VE blended samples were manufactured via direct compression molding following the blending of UHMWPE resin powder (GUR1050, Ticona Inc.) with VE (dl-α-tocopherol, Eisai Co. Ltd.) at 0.3wt%. The virgin samples were derived similarly, but without the addition of VE. Both materials underwent crosslinking by irradiation via a 10MeV electron beam at 300kGy and were then heat treated at several temperatures (25, 80, 110, 130 and 150 °C) for 24 hours.
Gel content, which can be interpreted as cross-link density, was determined by measuring the weight of the samples before and after soaking in decahydronaphthalene at 150 °C for twelve days.
Tensile tests were carried out following JIS K 7113, with the cross head speed set at 50 mm/min.
Crystallinity was determined by using DSC and integrating over the enthalpy curve from 80 to 150 °C and normalizing with the enthalpy of melting for 100% crystalline polyethylene.
Result
Fig. 1 shows the gel content of UHMWPE samples after crosslinking. Raising the annealing temperature caused an increase in the gel content regardless the VE content. Additionally, among samples with the same annealing temperature, VE samples had the lower gel content.
Fig. 2 shows the yield strength of UHMWPE samples. Higher annealing temperature decreased the yield strength, and increased elongation.
Fig. 3 shows the crystallinity of each UHMWPE sample. Higher annealing temperature decreased the crystallinity of UHMWPE.
Discussion
In this study, the effect of annealing temperature on the mechanical properties of crosslinked UHMWPE was investigated. The results indicated that a greater volume of crystalline UHMWPE melted and reformed at the higher annealing temperatures. This was thought to occur due to the fact that UHMWPE consists of a range of different molecular weight chains, allowing for melting below 135°C. Therefore, the crystallinity and crosslink density changed for each annealing temperature. The annealing is a simple but effective method for designing the crystallinity and crosslinking of UHMWPE.
