Biotribological Wear Prediction of Alumina–Polymer Hip Prostheses Using Finite Element Analysis

This study investigates the biotribological performance of alumina–UHMWPE and alumina–PEEK hip implant couples through finite element simulation (ANSYS v24) and statistical inference (STATA v17). During gait cycle loading simulations, significant disparity in wear behaviour was observed. Alumina–UHMWPE demonstrated superior mechanical resistance, with a wear volume of 0.18481 mm3 and a wear depth of 6.93 × 10−4 mm compared to alumina–PEEK, which registered higher wear (volume: 8.4006 mm3; depth: 3.15 × 10−2 mm). Wear distribution analysis indicated alumina–UHMWPE showed an even wear pattern in comparison to the poor, uneven alumina-PEEK high-wear patterns. Statistical comparison validated these findings, wherein alumina–UHMWPE achieved a 27.60 hip joint wear index (HCI) value, which is better than that of alumina–PEEK (35.85 HCI), particularly regarding key parameters like wear depth and volume. This computational–statistical model yields a baseline design for biomaterial choice, demonstrating the potential clinical superiority of alumina–UHMWPE in reducing implant failure risk. While this is a simulation study lacking experimental validation, the results pave the way for experimental and clinical studies for further verification and refinement. The approach enables hip arthroplasty design optimization with maximal efficiency and minimal resource-intensive testing.