Abstract:
Little is known about the wear of zirconia-zirconia bearing systems for total joint
replacements. In this study zirconia-zirconia specimens were run on a simulator with water
lubrication. After catastrophic failure of the bearings, the lubricating fluid was filtered and the wear
debris examined. The debris particles were larger than would be expected and exhibited a
monoclinic structure. The wear surface showed signs of extensive delamination consistent with
failure of the bearing surfaces. Water lubrication under hip simulator conditions results in rapid
failure of zirconia surfaces. However, wear studies of zirconia-zirconia hip designs with serum
lubrication to over twenty million cycles demonstrated little if any wear change of the bearing
surfaces.
