Study of the titanium alloys surfaces used in orthopaedic systems

Total hip prosthesis (THP) is a highly successful orthopaedic device. However, its durability is generally limited to a few decades due to difficult conditions in the human body and huge demands it is subjected to. A hip prosthesis is deteriorating due to high surface pressures caused by mechanical movements of the body. The aim of this project is to improve the characteristics of hip prostheses, in order to increase their functionality and their life span. This paper presents an analysis regarding the topography and tribological parameters of femoral heads structures and of femoral heads coated with TiN. We studied the tribological properties of the surfaces of some femoral heads made of Ti alloys or coated with TiN. These femoral heads were obtained from some prostheses after revision surgery. Afterwards, we used TiN nanostructured coatings for reducing the wear process. TiN thin films were deposited using physical vapour deposition (PVD) and some scratch tests have been realized on these coatings surfaces. The study of coatings surfaces was made using atomic force microscopy (AFM) that offers the possibility to obtain nanometric 3D control of thin films. Main result of these researches is that used coatings offer the possibility to improve the system properties. (authors)