Fabrication and wear characterization of dimple textured on the surface of UHMWPE

Wear are the major obstacle that limits the long-term using of ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene (UHMWPE) in artificial joints. In this study, the micro-scale texture has been introduced to improve the wear properties of UHMWPE. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of surface dimple parameters on wear behaviour and mechanism of UHMWPE. Circular shaped micro-dimple with 40 mu m in depth and different diameters (0.3 and 1 mm) as well as different area densities (5%, 10% and 20%) were machined by computer numerical control lathe machine. Wear performance of surface textured UHMWPE at different diameter and dimple densities under boundary serum lubricated conditions were studied. Results shows that by introduced texture on the surface does improved the wear resistance of UHWMPE where dimple with small diameter and high dimple density have low wear rate.