Micromechanics of compressive behavior in fiber-reinforced polymer composite biomaterials

n intensive analytical, numerical and experimental investigation was conducted to study the compressive behavior of unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) composite for the development of a composite femoral component for total hip arthroplasty. First, a new 2-D analytical model for the problem of a linear elastic fiber microbuckling in a relatively compliant matrix was developed. To verify the analytical model, a finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out using the finite element software package ABAQUS. After the 2-D studies, a 3-D boundary element analysis (BEA) was performed by running the boundary element software package BEASY to conduct an approximate 3-D analysis of fiber microbuckling. Finally, an experimental study was performed to investigate how long term immersion in simulate in vivo environment may influence compressive behavior of the CF/PEEK composite.;Results of this research showed that: (1) Contrary to Rosen's model, the presently developed model predicts that shear mode microbuckling will occur for all...