Fracture characteristics of acrylic bone cements. I. Fracture toughness.

The vital first phase of the overall materials study to protract the life of the total joint replacements is the identification of the fracture toughness and fatigue properties of bone cements. Information gained from fatigue testing, performed in a manner which simmulates in vivo conditions, and fracture toughness, which is a measure of the propensity of a crack to propagate, is the first step towards the prediction of the life of the total joint replacement. This study is concerned with the fracture toughness of Zimmer and Simplex-P cold-curing bone cements. Following cement fabrication conditions which closely approximate clinical procedures, fracture toughness testing was conducted on cement specimens which were immersed in bovine serum at 37 degrees C in order to simulate in vivo conditions. In addition, a similar study was completed on specimens, tested in air at ambient temperature for purposes of comparison. Results of this procedure, when analyzed by a Student's t-test at the 95% confidence level with eight degrees of freedom, indicate that both Zimmer and Simplex-P exhibit a higher fracture toughness in the simulated physiological environment. In order to determine whether the addition of barium sulfate to these cements compromises the fracture toughness, the above described testing rationale was repeated, indicating the existence of a complicated relationship between the different testing environments and barium sulfate. The importance of these results lies in the fact that an increased fracture toughness indicates that a cement will inherently exhibit a greater degree of resistance to the propagation of cracks, which could contribute to the ultimate failure of the total joint replacement.