Comparative Study Regarding the Design of a 3D Printed Hip Prosthesis

Abstract

This work proposes the comparison of two models of 3D printed hip prostheses, using microscopic and chemical analysis, but also compression and bending testing. The comparison was made using a hip prosthesis designed in the Autodesk Inventor 2020 program and a model freely available on the Internet. The work includes some details about the virtual prototyping of prostheses and results from the chemical analysis of the components of the hip prostheses, carried out using an X-ray spectrometer to identify the elements contained in the PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol) material that was used to obtain the samples. The second method of analysis was the microscopic one and finally the samples were subjected to external forces, through bending and compression testing. This comparison aimed to demonstrate the dependence between the shape of the prosthesis and the mechanical properties of the analysed samples.