Abstract
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and resurfacing hip arthroplasty (RHA) has been the standard treatment for patients with progressive osteoarthritis and for relatively young patients with femoral head necrosis, respectively. Although the joint functions are dramatically improved due to THA, sometimes large strains or stresses in the vicinities of the implants have been associated to the cause of bone fracture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the bone fracture mechanisms in THA and RHA on the basis of the finite element method with use of damage mechanics. Microscopical damage formations with microcracking and final bone fracture were successfully reproduced by this modeling procedure.
