PMID- 36984930
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20230331
IS  - 2072-666X (Print)
IS  - 2072-666X (Electronic)
IS  - 2072-666X (Linking)
VI  - 14
IP  - 3
DP  - 2023 Feb 24
TI  - Replication Study of Molded Micro-Textured Samples Made of Ultra-High Molecular 
      Weight Polyethylene for Medical Applications.
LID - 10.3390/mi14030523 [doi]
LID - 523
AB  - In articular joint implants, polymeric inserts are usually exploited for 
      on-contact sliding surfaces to guarantee low friction and wear, a high 
      load-bearing capacity, impact strength and stiffness, and biocompatibility. 
      Surface micro-structuring can drastically reduce friction and wear by promoting 
      hydrostatic friction due to synovial fluid. Ultra-High Molecular Weight 
      Polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a suitable material for these applications due to its 
      strong chemical resistance, excellent resistance to stress, cracking, abrasion, 
      and wear, and self-lubricating property. However, surface micro-texturing of 
      UHMWPE is hardly achievable with the currently available processes. The present 
      study investigates UHMWPE's micro-textured surface replication capability via 
      injection molding, comparing the results with the more easily processable 
      High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Four different micro-texture cavities were 
      designed and fabricated on a steel mold by micro-EDM milling, and used for the 
      experimental campaign. Complete samples were fabricated with both materials. 
      Then, the mold and samples were geometrically characterized, considering the 
      dimensions of the features and the texture layout. The replication analysis 
      showed that HDPE samples present geometrical errors that span from 1% to 9% 
      resulting in an average error of 4.3%. In comparison, the UHMWPE samples display 
      a higher variability, although still acceptable, with percentage errors ranging 
      from 2% to 31% and an average error of 11.4%.
FAU - Modica, Francesco
AU  - Modica F
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4025-645X
AD  - CNR-STIIMA Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for 
      Advanced Manufacturing, Via P. Lembo, 38F, 70124 Bari, Italy.
FAU - Basile, Vito
AU  - Basile V
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7617-3368
AD  - CNR-STIIMA Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for 
      Advanced Manufacturing, Via P. Lembo, 38F, 70124 Bari, Italy.
FAU - Surace, Rossella
AU  - Surace R
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-9476-3310
AD  - CNR-STIIMA Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for 
      Advanced Manufacturing, Via P. Lembo, 38F, 70124 Bari, Italy.
FAU - Fassi, Irene
AU  - Fassi I
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-6144-2123
AD  - CNR-STIIMA Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for 
      Advanced Manufacturing, Via A. Corti, 12, 20133 Milano, Italy.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230224
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Micromachines (Basel)
JT  - Micromachines
JID - 101640903
PMC - PMC10051488
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
OT  - micro-EDM structured surface
OT  - micro-injection molding
OT  - micro-texturing
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/03/30 06:00
MHDA- 2023/03/30 06:01
PMCR- 2023/02/24
CRDT- 2023/03/29 01:52
PHST- 2023/01/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/02/22 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/02/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/03/30 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2023/03/29 01:52 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/03/30 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/02/24 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - mi14030523 [pii]
AID - micromachines-14-00523 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/mi14030523 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Feb 24;14(3):523. doi: 10.3390/mi14030523.