EFFECT OF LOADS AND BIO-LUBRICANTS ON TRIBOLOGICAL STUDY OF ZIRCONIA AND ZIRCONIA TOUGHENED ALUMINA AGAINST Ti6Al4V FOR HIP PROSTHESIS

Zirconia and zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) are widely used for biomedical applications. Owing to the superior mechanical and bio-compatible properties of ZTA, it is now gaining more importance over zirconia, as it has the profound strength of zirconia and alumina. This study examines the tribological behavior of Zirconia and ZTA balls sliding against a Ti6Al4V disc using the Ball-on-disc (BOD) Tribometer. The effect of loads and bio-lubricants influencing the tribological behavior is investigated for a sliding distance of 2km using BoD Tribometer. The friction and wear coefficients are examined under these loading and lubrication conditions. Five bio-lubricants considered for the tribological study of biomaterials include ringer's solution, phosphate buffer saline (PBS), distilled water, NaCl 0.9% saline solution and sesame oil. The result showed that ZTA had a lower coefficient of friction (CoF) value of 0.34 for NaCl bio-lubricant. The ZTA and zirconia exhibited the least wear coefficient values under sesame oil lubrication. Overall, ZTA had better CoF under high loads for PBS, distilled water and sesame oil bio-lubricants. However, zirconia exhibited a better wear coefficient under all loads and lubrication conditions.