Fracture Behavior of the Cement Mantle of Reconstructed Acetabulum in the Presence of a Microcrack Emanating from a Microvoid

In this work, the finite element method is used to analyze the behavior of the crack emanating from a microvoid in acetabular cement mantle by computing the stress intensity factor. A simple 2D multilayer model developed by Benbarek et al.[1] to reproduce the stress distributions in the cement mantle has been used. To provide the place of birth of the crack, the stress distribution around the microvoid is determined in several positions for three different loads. The effect of axial and radial displacement of the microvoid in the cement is highlighted. The results indicate that the stress distribution and induced in the cement around the microvoid are not homogeneous and this, whatever its position. In addition, there is a large birth risk of cracks in several radial directions depending on the position of the microvoid in the cement mantle. The crack can be triggered in several directions in mode I or mode II, while the mixed mode is dominant. The KI and KII SIF varies according to the position of the microcrack and the microvoid in the cement. They increase proportionally with the increase of the weight of the patient. It should be noted that the KI SIF are two times higher than the SIF KII. The maxima of the KI SIF are obtained for the position of the microvoid α = 100° and θ = 45° of the microcrack and the risk of the propagation of the microcrack is very important for this orientation.