Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830

www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Failure analysis of a Ti6Al4V cementless HIP prosthesis

Jesus Chao *, Vctor Lopez
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas (CSIC), Avda. Gregorio del Amo, 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Received 10 October 2006; accepted 19 November 2006

Available online 29 December 2006

Abstract

This work investigates the causes of in vivo fracture of a cementless hip prosthesis model manufactured with Ti6A14V
alloy. To this end an assessment of geometric characteristics, a fractographic analysis of the fracture surface, and a micro-
structural study of the stem material were carried out. The results indicate that the fracture was initiated at the junction
radius of the neck with the collared device, with around 90% of the fracture surface being due to a fatigue mechanism. In
order to assess the impact of the materials microstructure on its mechanical properties, two heat treatments, yielding a ne
and a coarse microstructure, respectively, were performed on a 14 mm diameter bar. The notch eect on fatigue strength
was evaluated by comparison of the results of polished specimens and specimens having a notch whose geometry produced
a similar stress concentration factor to that which caused the fracture in the implant. It is shown that irrespective of the
materials microstructure, a notch greatly reduces the fatigue strength of this material.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Hip prosthesis; Fatigue failure; Ti6A14V; Microstructure; Notch eect

1. Introduction

The in vivo fracture of the stem of cementless hip prostheses is an event that has been repeatedly reported in
the literature. The fracture of cementless prostheses is generally related to two factors [1]:

Mechanical weakening induced by the morphology of the porous layer.

Loss of the mechanical properties of the substrate due to its microstructural degradation during the ther-
mal cycle necessary to produce the porous layer.

Previous papers have studied the detrimental eect of post-sintering heat treatments on the fatigue prop-
erties of coated Ti6Al4V specimens [2,3]. Fatigue results of a batch of cementless holed stems, with a system-
atic small machining defect, have shown a decrease in the fatigue strength higher than that predicted [4].
Reports of cases of in vivo fracture of cementless hip prostheses have attributed this event to the weak junction
of the madreporic corrugations and the smooth plate [5]; the smelting technology and cracking of the porous
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jchao@cenim.csic.es (J. Chao), vlopez@cenim.csic.es (V. Lopez).

1350-6307/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2006.11.003
 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830 823

layer [6]; the narrowness of the anteroposterior dimensions of the proximal region of the stem [7]; the galvanic
corrosion-fatigue process at the tapered interface between the neck and head of modular femoral components
[8,9]; and the lack of support in the proximal region of the stem and distal stem xation [10].
Research has been carried out into the causes of in vivo fracture at the junction of the neck with the plateau
of the femoral component in cementless hip prostheses (manufactured with Ti6Al4V alloy) coated with a por-
ous layer in the proximal third of the stem. This paper considers fractographic aspects of the stem failure and
the inuence of the microstructure and the presence of an as-machined notch on fatigue behaviour. To the
authors knowledge no studies have been published in the open literature on the failure analysis of cementless
femoral components in which fatigue fracture has occurred at the neck base.

2. Materials and methods

Over a period of two years, three femoral components of the same model of hip prostheses which had bro-
ken at the junction radius of the neck with the collared device (Fig. 1) were received in the CENIM labora-
tories. The components consisted of a straight stem with a xed collar made of Ti6Al4V alloy and a femoral
head manufactured with alumina. The proximal third of the stem had a rough appearance and was covered
with remains of bony tissue whereas the distal part was smooth, cylindrical and presented no remains of bony
tissue. It seems that the stem was designed so that the all stresses on it were intended to be transferred into the
proximal femur whereas no load was transmitted onto the shaft. The prostheses received were implanted in
men weighing between 90 and 120 kg. In all cases the fracture of the prostheses happened suddenly, without

Fig. 1. Details of prosthesis fracture. (a) Medial view of prosthesis, with arrow marking fracture initiation point. Remains of bone tissue
may be seen in the stem proximal area indicating good osseointegration. (b) Normal view of fracture surface, with arrow marking fracture
initiation point. (c) Lateral view of neck surface. (d) Medial view of neck surface.
824 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830

any prior warning or pain, after a period of one to four years. In order to remove the fractured components it
was necessary to carry out an osteotomy of the proximal region of the femur.
The fracture surfaces were analysed with a Bausch & Lomb 10X stereomicroscope and a Jeol JXA-840
scanning electron microscope (SEM) operating at 15 kV. The metallographic study of the material was per-
formed on cross sections of the neck 10 mm from the fracture surface. After polishing the specimens their
microstructure was revealed by etching with the reagent: 15 ml HF, 45 ml HCl, 15 ml HNO3 and 75 ml H2O.
One of the aims of this work was to evaluate the eect of the thermal cycle due to post-sintering treatment
on the fatigue strength of the substrate. For this purpose two thermal treatments were performed on 14 mm
diameter forged bars of surgical Ti6Al4V ELI alloy [11,12]. One of these treatments consisted of heating the
bar to 700 C for 2 h followed by cooling to room temperature outside the furnace (fast cooling) in order to
attain a ne grain structure of the type specied by ISO and ASTM standards for surgical implants [11,12]. In
the other treatment the material was heated to 1100 C for 2 h and then cooled to room temperature inside the
switched-o furnace (slow cooling rate). The aim of this treatment was to generate a coarse grain structure
similar to that observed in the broken prostheses. The oxygen and nitrogen content of the central region
(about 10 mm in diameter) of blank samples of treated bars were analysed following the procedures of ASTM
E-1409-97 and ASTM E-120-00 standards, respectively. In no case were the specied maximum contents of
oxygen (0.2%) and nitrogen (0.05%) [11,12] exceeded.
Mechanical tests (tensile, impact and fatigue) were carried out at room temperature in the laboratory atmo-
sphere. Longitudinal tensile specimens of a gauge length of 36 mm and 8.75 mm in diameter were prepared
from the bars. These specimens were tested on an Instron Model 1362 testing machine at a strain rate of
10 3 s 1. Charpy impact specimens with a 10 10 mm cross section were machined from the bars. Impact tests
of these specimens were performed on a Wolpert Type PW 30/15 K-E impact pendulum of 300 J in nominal
energy at an impact velocity of 5.2 m/s at the strike centre. The tensile and impact tests were performed in
accordance with the corresponding ASTM standards [13,14]. Unnotched fatigue specimens were hourglass-

Fig. 2. Dimensions and geometric details of stem.

 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830 825

shaped, with a 6 mm diameter waist and a length of 80 mm. Once machined, these specimens were abraded
with successively ner silicon carbide papers and nally polished in longitudinal direction of the specimen with
1 lm diamond paste. In order to evaluate the eect of the notch on fatigue strength an U-notch of 1.15 mm in
depth and a notch tip radius of 1.38 mm was grinded using normal workshop practice in the centre of cylin-
ders of 10 mm in diameter and 80 mm in length. The stress concentration (1.95) produced by this notch in the
specimens is equivalent to that introduced by the design of the implant at the junction radius of the neck with
the collared device [15,16]. Since the surface nish of the prosthesis neck was as-machined, no further nishing
operations were performed on the notched specimens. Fatigue tests were conducted on a MTS 810 servo-
hydraulic testing machine under constant tensile stress amplitude and a minimum-to-maximum stress ratio
of 0.1. The frequency used in these tests was 20 Hz. The fatigue strength was estimated at 5 106 cycles
according to ISO standard [17], following the two-point strategy method [18].

3. Results

3.1. Geometry and dimensions

Fig. 2 presents a sketch showing the most relevant dimensions and geometric features of the prostheses.

3.2. Implant failure

The fracture of the prostheses was produced by a fatigue process that was initiated at the junction radius of
the neck with collared device in the area indicated by an arrow in Figs. 1(a) and (b). No supercial marks
attributable to physical damage during implantation or extraction appeared on the neck. No macroscopic
signs of plastic deformation were observed in the lateral side of the neck where the fracture initiation took
place (Fig. 1c). However, the medial side of the neck near the fracture surface presents an orange peel
appearance typical of plastically deformed materials with a coarse grain microstructure (Fig. 1d). Fig. 3 clearly

Fig. 3. Close-up view of fracture surface. (a) Fatigue striations indicating crack growth from bottom to top. (b) Detail of discontinuous
nature of fatigue crack growth. (c) Mix of ductile and fatigue features. (d) Ductile fracture in medial region corresponding to a single load
cycle.
826 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830

reveals that the fracture was produced by a fatigue process. The micrograph in Fig. 3a shows fatigue striations
indicating that the crack grew from bottom to top. In Fig. 3b three areas in which the event sequence of crack
growthcrack arrestcrack re-initiation took place can be appreciated, indicating that the crack advance
occurred discontinuously. The micrograph in Fig. 3c (obtained from the top region of the photo in
Fig. 1b) shows a mixture of fatigue and ductile fractographic features, indicating a more rapid advance of
the crack. Finally, the micrograph in Fig. 3d shows the fractographic characteristics of a ductile fracture
due to overload failure of the remaining cross section. Thus it may be concluded that the fracture was initiated
in the lateral side of the neck, propagating through the cross section in the lateromedial direction, and ended in
overload failure of the remaining cross section accompanied by gross plastic deformation. From the quanti-
tative measuring on SEM images of the fracture surface it was estimated that about 90% of the area was cov-
ered with fatigue features.

3.3. Microstructure and mechanical properties

Fig. 4 shows macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the prosthesis material microstructure. Fig. 4a shows
a cross section below the fracture in the coated region, in which a very coarse structure of the material can be
appreciated. It can also be seen that more or less uniform bony ingrowth through the porous coating has
occurred, which indicates osseointegration of the implant. At higher magnication (not shown) it can be
appreciated that the porous coating consisted of three rows of sintered microspheres of about 250 lm in diam-
eter. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis of the microspheres revealed that the material is Ti6Al4V alloy. The
microstructure of the implant (Fig. 4b) consists of acicular alpha phase (transformed beta) and primary alpha
phase in prior beta grain boundaries. This microstructure is characteristic of Ti6Al4V alloy heated above beta

Fig. 4. Microstructure of hip prosthesis material. (a) Macrostructure of cross section in coated zone. (b) Microstructure of cross section
near fracture (200).
 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830 827

transus (985 C). This temperature is usually achieved during sintering to form a porous layer on the proximal
area of the stem.
Fig. 5a shows the microstructure of the bar heat-treated at 705 C for 2 h and then cooled to room temper-
ature outside the furnace, while Fig. 5b shows the microstructure of the bar heat-treated at 1100 C for 2 h and
then cooled inside the switched-o furnace. The microstructure in Fig. 5a consists of a ne equiaxed alpha
phase (light) and an intergranular beta phase (dark). The microstructure in Fig. 5b is similar to that described
above in Fig. 4b, but the size of the primary beta phase grain is smaller; probably because the temperature
and/or the heating time of the prosthesis were higher.
Table 1 summarises the values of 0.2% yield strength (r0.2), tensile strength (ru), elongation (A), and area
reduction (AR). Values for absorbed energy during the impact test are also included. The tensile test results
reveal a notable loss of strength and ductility of the alloy with the coarse lamellar structure (CLS) shown in
Fig. 5b. The results of the impact test, however, show a higher absorbed energy, indicating that the CLS mate-
rial is tougher.
Fig. 6 illustrates the eect of the microstructure and the as-machined notch on fatigue strength. In the case
of the unnotched test piece, a 30% reduction in the fatigue strength of the CLS material was observed com-

Fig. 5. Microstructure of Ti6A14V alloy bar. (a) Treated for 2 h at 705 C and cooled outside furnace (500). (b) Treated for 2 h at
1100 C and cooled inside switched-o furnace (200).

Table 1
Mechanical properties of Ti6Al4V
Microstructure r0.2 (MPa) ru (MPa) A (%) RA (%) Absorbed energy (J)
FGS (Fig. 4a) 870 900 20 50.9 29.4
CLS (Fig. 4b) 765 850 9.4 20.8 42.1
828 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830

Fig. 6. Fatigue strength of unnotched and notched specimens as a function of microstructure.

pared to the material with a ne grain structure (FGS). In both materials the presence of a notch produces a
strong decrease in fatigue strength. This decrease is even greater than expected, considering the magnitude
(1.95) of the stress concentration factor. The fatigue strength under the notch of the FGS material is only
slightly higher than that of the CLS material, which suggests (taking into account the dierence in the fatigue
limit of unnotched specimens of both microstructures), that the eect of the as-machined notch is more severe
in the FGS material.

4. Discussion

The ASTM and ISO standards [11,12] specify the chemical, mechanical and micro-structural characteristics
of Ti6Al4V alloy for use in the manufacture of surgical implants, but neither species the required properties
of the nished product, i.e. the prosthesis. Furthermore, the ISO 5832-3 standard [7] indicates that the
mechanical properties of products manufactured with Ti6Al4V alloy may not satisfy the requirements estab-
lished for the material used in their manufacture. Since no standard exists for the nished product, in terms of
the specication of tensile and micro-structural properties, it is not possible to predict the service behaviour of
these metallic components [19].
On the basis of the better mechanical properties of unnotched specimens (0.2% yield strength, tensile
strength, ductility and fatigue strength) it seems reasonable to choose the FGS material for the nished prod-
uct. This choice is also supported by the data on mechanical properties obtained in previous work [2,3,20,21].
On the other hand, for the same prosthesis geometry it can easily be shown that to achieve the same function-
ality in fatigue behaviour it is necessary to increase the cross section of the prosthesis made with CLS material
by 34% in relation to a prosthesis manufactured with FGS material, to the detriment of its exibility and in
turn of its osseointegration.
In the prostheses considered in this work, the fracture occurs in a section change that produces a stress con-
centration factor of 1.95 [16]. Therefore, according to the results of fatigue tests on notched specimens of CLS
and FGS materials, the fatigue strength of the CLS material is only slightly inferior to that of the FGS mate-
rial. This implies that very probably the fracture of the prosthesis would have taken place irrespective of the
microstructure of the implant material. This observation is also congruent with the results of previous work, in
which it was concluded that in the presence of a notch the fatigue strength of Ti6Al4V alloy is independent of
its microstructure [20]. It is interesting to note that irrespective of the microstructure, the fatigue strength is
lower than that estimated as the ratio of fatigue strength of unnotched specimens to the magnitude of the
stress concentration factor (SCF). Viceconti et al., studying a group of hip prostheses with a small systematic
machining defect that produced a stress concentration factor of 1.13, observed a fatigue limit reduction factor
 J. Chao, V. Lopez / Engineering Failure Analysis 14 (2007) 822830 829

(FLRF) of 1.4 [4]. This is totally dierent to the results published by other authors for this alloy [22] and for
other metallic materials [23], where the value of FLRF is at most equal to the value of SCF. In general, this
threshold is reached for relatively low SCF values, and FLRF becomes progressively lower than SCF as the
latter increases, i.e. the true fatigue strength of notched specimens becomes progressively higher than that pre-
dicted from the SCF and unnotched fatigue strength values. The above anomalous behaviour could be attrib-
uted to machining-induced residual stresses, because no geometric defects or local variation of microstructure
were observed on the notch. These stresses perform eliminating the nucleation stage of the fatigue process.

5. Conclusions

The fracture of the prostheses was caused by a fatigue process due to the stress concentrator developed at
the junction of the neck with the collared device.
Fatigue tests on notched specimens indicate that failure would have occurred irrespective of the materials
microstructure.
In controlled machining conditions, the material with an equiaxic ne grain presents better mechanical
properties than the material with a coarse lamellar microstructure.
To prevent the fracture of the prosthesis it would be necessary to increase the cross section of the neck and
the junction radius of the neck with the collared device.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. J.M.A. Ortega of CENIM for the facilities provided for the performance of the fa-
tigue tests.

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