Wear Characteristics of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) in Cyclic Impingement Test

Abstract

A series of impingement wear tests on the three kinds of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), namely conventional, cross-linked and vitamin E-doped UHMWPE has been performed. Water uptake of UHMWPE was measured first, and then the impingement wear tests were performed. An amount of wear in terms of weight change of UHMWPE with the cyclic impingement was not able to be determined, so the volume change in the wear section was alternatively measured. As a result, the vitamin E-doped UHMWPE clearly showed the smallest wear volume among these three UHMWPEs.