Abstract
Metals such as titanium materials and stainless steel are widely using in orthopedic implant devices. In this work, we examined about application of thermoelastic stress measuring method for fatigue property of implantable metal. The fatigue test with Ti-6Al-4V alloy and stainless steel was conducted with sine wave at stress ratio (minimum stress/maximum stress)=0.1. The effects of wave frequency and material on the difference of surface temperature (ΔT) obtained by thermoelastic stress measuring method were examined at various applied stress using Ti-6Al-4V alloy and stainless steel. The ΔT for Ti-6Al-4V alloy and stainless steel increased with increasing applied stress. Effect of frequency on ΔT was also small for Ti-6Al-4V alloy and stainless steel. Surface stress calculated with thermoelastic parameter was also close to applied stress. It was clear that thermoelastic stress measuring method is useful for estimation of surface stress of orthopedic implant devices.
