Finite element analysis of a low modulus Ti-20Zr-3Mo-3Sn alloy designed to reduce the stress shielding effect of a hip prosthesis.

After total hip arthroplasty, the stress shielding effect can occur due to the difference of stiffness between the metallic alloy of the stems and the host bone, which may cause a proximal bone loss. To overcome this problem, a low-modulus metastable β Ti-20Zr-3Mo-3Sn alloy composition has recently been designed to be potentially used for the cementless femoral hip stems. After having verified experimentally that the β alloy has a low modulus of around 50 GPa, a finite element analysis was performed on a Ti-20Zr-3Mo-3Sn alloy hip prosthesis model to evaluate the influence of a reduced modulus on stress shielding and stress fields in both stem and bone compared with the medical grade Ti-6Al-4V alloy whose elastic modulus reached 110 GPa.

Finite element analysis of the mechanical performance of self-expanding endovascular stents made with new nickel-free superelastic β-titanium alloys.

New Ni-free superelastic β-titanium alloys from the Ti-Zr-Nb-Sn system have been designed in this study to replace the NiTi alloy currently used for self-expanding endovascular stents. The simulation results, carried out by finite element analysis (FEA) on two β-type Ti-Zr-Nb-Sn alloys using a commonly used superelastic constitutive model, were in good agreement with the experimental uniaxial tension data. An ad-hoc self-expanding coronary stent was specifically designed for the present study.