Calculation of Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Film Thickness for Hip Prostheses During Normal Walking

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Abstract
In this paper, a method for evaluating elastic deflection of acetabulum is given, which is developed from the finite element analysis. The lubrication quantities are nondimensionalized. To eliminate the divergency often encountered at high pressure or low film thickness, the authors applied an efficient numerical solution composed of damping Newton method and direct method to solve the problem of elastohydrodynamic lubrication squeeze film. An applied method for evaluating the progressive variation of minimum film thickness in hip prostheses is presented which offers an optimum selection of the parameters of hip prostheses with no need for a complicated EHL calculation. Effects of joint size, elastic modulus and biological factors on lubrication nature are also taken into account.