Characteristic of the porous 316 stainless steel for the friction element of prosthetic joint

An increasing interest in using porous implant materials has been observed for the last decade. The present work is concerned with the development of porous materials for self-lubricating hip bearing. The layered samples with various porosity structure made of the 316 stainless steel obtained using the powder metallurgy method were investigated. The tribological behavior of sintered materials with different porosity levels were studied in a simulator of friction in hip joint using 2% aqueous solution of carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) as a lubricant. The effect on wear, frictional torque, and particle morphology were measured and analyzed. The observations confirmed different friction and wear mechanism in comparison with non-porous material. The results in this test affirmed that among porous sinters with similar porosity the structure with the large pores ensured the best lubricating conditions.