This test method is intended to be performed in conjunction with pin-on-flat wear machines or similar machines that are designed to evaluate simplified specimen geometries.

This test method is designed to evaluate combinations of materials with respect to the amount of polymer wear, where quantifiable wear occurs primarily on the polymeric component. With some combinations of materials, significant wear of the counterface may occur, with subsequent embedding of counterface debris particles in the polymer. Such an occurrence will render the weight loss of the polymer specimen unreliable as an indicator of the polymer wear.

Wear is reported as volume loss of the polymeric specimen as a function of sliding distance; however, if the sliding distance is not constant across the polymeric specimen surface due to complex motion patterns, wear may be reported as volume loss of the polymeric specimen as a function of wear cycles (in which case a “wear cycle” shall be defined). Volume loss of the polymer specimen is determined by dividing the experimental weight loss by the density of the polymer. For ease of interpretation, wear should be reported as a function of both the number of wear cycles and the sliding distance, when possible.

The reference for the comparative evaluation of candidate materials shall be the wear rate of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) conforming to Specification F 648 bearing against counterfaces of cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy (in accordance with Specifications F 75, F 799, or F 1537), having prosthetic-quality surface finish and lubricated with bovine blood serum (see 5.2).

1.1 This test method describes a laboratory method for evaluating the wear properties of combinations of materials that are being considered for use as bearing surfaces of human total joint prostheses. The body of this test method contains general methods which apply to all types of prosthesis wear applications while individual annexes describe specific wear test methods and clinical validation criteria tailored to each distinct wear application (for example, linear reciprocating motion, ball-cup ("hip-type") wear, delamination wear, etc.). It is the intent of this test method to rank materials, within each wear application, for polymer wear rates under simulated physiological conditions. It must be recognized, however, that contact geometries and wear motions are simplified using such methods. This test method, therefore, represents only an initial stage in the full wear characterization of a candidate material.

1.2 All candidate materials should be tested in an appropriate joint simulator apparatus using prototype prostheses before being used in clinical trials in patients. The tests described in this test method are used to quickly and reliably screen material combinations for wear performance in different orthopaedic wear applications prior to committing them to more expensive and time-consuming joint simulator testing. In addition, these simplified tests can be used to relate material, surface finish, or other parameters to wear behavior on a more practical basis than is possible in joint simulator tests.