Orthopedic surgeons have found that many total hip replacements fail after several years, requiring re-operation. This problem has generated much research to find the cause. Mechanical failure processes at the cancellous bone/PMMA cement interface will be studied using methods from fracture mechanics and damage theory. The hypothesis to be tested is that fibrous tissue at the interface is caused by relative motion between bone and cement due to crack propagation. Crack propagation models will be developed to test this theory.
