The influence of nominal stress on wear factors of carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK-OPTIMA® Wear Performance) against zirconia toughened alumina (Biolox®delta ceramic)

Carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone is an attractive alternative to ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene in artificial joints, but little has been published on the influence of stress on the wear factor. We know that in ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, the wear factor reduces as the normal stress increases, which is counter-intuitive but very helpful in the case of non-conforming contacts. In this study, carbon fibre-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK-OPTIMA® Wear Performance) has been investigated in a pin-on-plate machine under steady loads and under stresses typical of hip and knee joints. At stresses below about 6 MPa, wear factors are between 10 and a 100 times lower than for ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene but at higher stresses the wear factors increase substantially. © IMechE 2014.