Uniaxial and biaxial ratcheting behavior of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

Experimental studies were conducted to investigate the uniaxial and biaxial ratcheting behaviors of Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The effects of stress amplitude, stress rate and hydroxyapatite content on uniaxial ratcheting behavior were studied firstly. It is found that the ratcheting strain and its rate increase as stress amplitude increases. However, the ratcheting strain and its rate decrease with rising of stress rate. Meanwhile, it is found that the ratcheting strain decreases with increase of hydroxyapatite content. The ratcheting strain rates with different hydroxyapatite contents are not obviously different. The modified ratcheting strain accumulative model was constructed to predict the uniaxial ratcheting behavior of UHMWPE with different stress amplitudes, stress rates and hydroxyapatite contents. It is seen that the predictions agree with the experimental results very well. The effects of different loading paths on biaxial ratcheting behavior of UHMWPE were studied. Both ratcheting strain and ratcheting strain rate are strongly influenced by the loading path. It is found that the uniaxial loading path gives the highest ratcheting strain and its rate while the proportional loading path gives the lowest ratcheting strain and its rate.