Misc mechanics topics:

fatigue, hardness, wear

Degradation of biomaterials

Prof. Wendy Liu

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  1    
 Molecular cause of creep
& stress relaxation
•  Polymers –
–  movement of chains in amorphous regions above the glass
transition temperature

•  Metals/Ceramics
–  grain boundary movement
–  Vacancy diffusion

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  2    
 Other mechanical properties

Fatigue
Hardness
Wear

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  3    
 Fatigue

•  Failure that results from dynamic and fluctuating

stresses, usually occurring after long periods of time
•  Failure may occur at a stress much lower than the tensile
or yield strength for a static load
•  Fatigue failure is usually brittle-like, even for ductile
materials
•  Process includes the initiation and propagation of cracks,
and fracture usually occurs in direction perpendicular to
stress

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  4    
 Fatigue testing

Endurance  limit  

Endurance  limit  –  maximum  stress  at  which  material  does  not  fail  with  faCgue  

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  5    
 S-N Fatigue Data

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  6    
 Wear

•  Wear properties are important for many biomaterials,

particularly those with articulating surfaces
•  Mechanisms of wear
–  Mechanical wear
–  Chemical changes in the material
•  Material properties affecting wear
–  Surface roughness
–  Frictional coefficient
–  Presence of lubrication

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  7    
 Mechanical wear
•  Adhesive wear – material is
removed from one surface
through adhesion to the
opposing surface

•  Abrasive wear – hard surface

removes material from a softer
counterface.

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  8    
 Hardness
•  Hardness is the resistance to plastic deformation upon local loading
•  Hardness test:
–  Small indenter forced into the surface of the material with
controlled load and rate
–  Depth and size of indentation is measured
apply  known  force     measure  size    
e.g.,       of  indent  aLer    
10  mm  sphere   removing  load  
Smaller  indents    
D   d   mean  larger    
hardness.  
•  Hardness tests are commonly done because they are simple and
non-destructive
•  Since tensile strength and hardness are both an indicator of a
material’s resistance to plastic strength, they are usually proportional

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  9    
 The Biomaterial Environment
•  Biomaterials are exposed to an aqueous (water) environment
containing ions, which can cause degradation.

•  In addition, infiltration of inflammatory cells leads to the presence of

reactive species and an acidic environment, which further enhance
degradation.

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  10    
 Definitions
•  Degradation – any form of material degradation

•  Corrosion – degradation of metals

•  Biodegradation – degradation that is due to a biological agent

(enzyme, microbe)

•  Bioerosion – a water insoluble material is converted to a water

soluble polymer under physiological conditions
–  Includes chemical processes – backbone cleavage, as well as
physical processes – dissolution

•  Bioresorption or bioabsorption – degradation products are removed

by a cellular process

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  11    
 Corrosion
•  Corrosion is the chemical degradation of metals and is problematic
for biomaterials that are exposed to aqueous environments.
•  Ceramic materials are frequently chosen for their corrosion
resistance.

•  Corrosion results from an electrochemical reaction

–  Oxidation reaction generates electrons (anode)

M → M n+ + ne−

–  Reduction reaction consumes electrons (cathode)

2H + + 2e− → H 2

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  12    
 Corrosion of zinc in acidic solution
H+
Oxidation reaction
Zn Zn2+ H+
H+ Acid
Zinc flow of e-
2e-
in the metal H+ + solution
H
H+
H2(gas)
H+
reduction reaction

•  Oxidation reaction: loss of electrons Zn → Zn 2+ + 2e−

•  Reduction reaction: gain of electrons 2H + + 2e− → H 2
•  in acidic solutions with oxygen:
O2 + 4H + + 4e− → 2H 2O
•  in neutral or basic solutions with oxygen:
O2 + 2H 2O + 4e− → 4(OH − )
BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  13    
 The half cell potential describes how
corrosive a metal is
electrochemical  cell  
- +
• Metal with smaller
o
Vmetal
Cl-­‐   K+   (standard electrode potential)
Zn 25ºC Cu corrodes.

1.0 M 1.0 M
Zn 2 + solution Cu2+ solution
• Ex: Cu-Ni cell
V o< V o∴ Zn corrodes
Zn Cu
Zn → Zn 2+ + 2e−
Cu 2+ + 2e− → Cu

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  14    
 Standard reduction potential
EMF series
•
V o
•  Potential difference metal metal
measured with respect Au +1.420 V
to a standard hydrogen Cu +0.340
Pb - 0.126

more cathodic
electrode
Sn - 0.136
Ni - 0.250
Co - 0.277
Cd - 0.403
Fe - 0.440
Cr - 0.744
Zn - 0.763
more anodic

Al - 1.662
Mg - 2.363
Na - 2.714
Data based on Table 17.1,
BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015    
K -
 May  5  
2.924 Callister 8e.
 Lecture  10  Slide  15    
 Effect of concentration and temperature
RT [Zn] o o
Nernst  EquaCon   VCu −VZn = V −V − ln Cu Zn
nF [Cu]
- +
n = #e- per unit
oxid/red reaction
(= 2 here)
Zn T Cu

F = Faraday's
XM YM Constant = 96,500 C/mol.
Zn 2 + solution Cu2+ solution
R = gas constant = 8.314JK-1mol-1
• Reduce VCu - VZn by
-- increasing X
-- decreasing Y
-- increasing T
BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  16    
 Passivation

•  Some normally active metals, under particular

environmental conditions, lose their chemical reactivity
and become inert – passivity
•  Surface oxidation leads to the formation of a stable solid
film (oxide layer) that coats the material, and makes it
less susceptible to corrosion
•  Chromium, iron, nickel, titanium, and many of their alloys

•  Stainless steel is an iron alloy that usually contains at

least 11% chromium, which helps to form an oxide layer

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  17    
 Galvanic Series and Galvanic Corrosion
Platinum
•  Galvanic corrosion: two Gold

more cathodic
metals or alloys having Graphite
Titanium

(inert)
different compositions are
electrically coupled while Silver
316 Stainless Steel (passive)
exposed to an electrolyte
Nickel (passive)
(body fluid or tissue), Copper
which acts like a “salt Nickel (active)
bridge” Tin
Lead
more anodic 316 Stainless Steel (active)
•  Galvanic series:
experiments performed in (active) Iron/Steel
Aluminum Alloys
sea water, not 1M solution Cadmium
of their ions Zinc
Magnesium

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  18    
 Other factors
•  Crevice or pitting corrosion – occurs in a
narrow, deep crack
–  Lack of transport to/from the crack leads to
oxygen depletion in the crack
–  Only anodic/oxidation reaction occurs, whereas
the rest of the material becomes cathodic
–  Chloride diffuses into reactive crevice, which
reacts with water to produce H+ increasing the
pH
–  Mechanical factors may further enhance
crevice corrosion

•  Intergranular corrosion –
–  grain barriers represent more active (anodic)
regions because of their higher energy state
–  Leads to same mechanism described in crevice Fig. 17.18, Callister &
corrosion Rethwisch 8e.

BME111  Design  of  Biomaterials  Spring  2015      May  5    Lecture  10  Slide  19