Ocena skuteczności napromieniowania wiązką elektronów w aspekcie podwyższania odporności na zużycie polietylenów GUR 1020 i GUR 1050 stosowanych na panewki endoprotez

Abstract

Radiation modification was conducted in order to increase the resistance of GUR 1020 and GUR 1050 polyethylenes to plastic deformation and abrasive wear. Electron irradiation of 26-156 kGy dose was applied. It was determined that the hardness and longitudinal elasticity module increase along with the increase in the dose of radiation. It was also found that GUR 1050 (of a molecular weight of 9.2•106 g / mol) is characterised by a 1.86 times greater resistance to permanent deformation. This indicates a close relationship between the properties of polymers and molecular weight, which for the GUR 1020 is 5•106 g/mol. This is corroborated by a lower value of tribological wear of GUR 1050 compared to GUR 1020, which already exceeds 20% in the initial state of polymers. Tribological tests conducted on the T-05 and T-01 testers have shown that electron irradiation (6×26 kGy) of both polymers result in a four-fold reduction in wear as compared to unmodified polyethylenes. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of radiation modification, which promises the possibility of extending the service life of endoprosthesis cups.