Fretting-corrosion in hip implant modular junctions: New experimental set-up and initial outcome

The results indicated distinct, material-specific current evolutions and friction energies. No significant differences were observed in electrochemical or mechanical behaviour in response to pH change. In general, Ti6Al4V-Ti6Al4V-Ti6Al4V couples displayed the earliest passivation and superior electrochemical behaviour compared to Ti6Al4V-Ti6Al4V-CoCrMo and CoCrMo-Ti6Al4V-CoCrMo under fretting conditions. In addition, fluctuations in current were observed in specific regions at all instances where Ti6Al4V was coupled with Ti6Al4V. These fluctuations were not observed in instances where Ti6Al4V was coupled with CoCrMo. These findings suggest transitions in the degradation mechanisms at the modular junction as a function of material couples/contacts. The findings may assist in improving the current hip modular junctions.