In-vitro & In-vivo Investigation of the Silicon Nitride Ceramic Hip Implant’s Safety and Effectiveness Evaluation

Background: With regard to the ceramic hip joint implant, given the concerns in ceramic about the alumina brittleness and zirconia instability, is there any alternative material solution for the orthopaedic implant? Beyond the metastable oxide ceramics, along the echelon of advanced technical ceramics, looking at the non-oxide ceramic, the silicon nitride could be an excellent candidate for the joint implant’s application. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety, effectiveness and to demonstrate the potential of this silicon nitride hip implant. Methods: According to the related ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards, a series of in-vitro (nine) & in-vivo (five) tests, which had been accomplished for the aforementioned aim. Especially, the total hip replacement in pigs had been achieved, as per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time to apply the THA (Total Hip Arthroplasty) in the big animal. Results: Refer to the ISO 6474-2, in comparison with the current monopolized German product, this silicon nitride ceramic hip implant has high strength, high hardness, excellent fracture toughness, lower density, better wear resistance, good biocompatibility, inherent stability, corrosion resistance and bioactivity, bone integration capability. Conclusions: This silicon nitride ceramic will be an admirable alternative solution with superior comprehensive property that can withstand the toughest conditions in the most demanding applications like in orthopedic and beyond.

Si3N4 Ceramic Ball Surface Defects’ Detection Based on SWT and Nonlinear Enhancement

In order to improve the detection accuracy and efficiency of silicon nitride ceramic ball surface defects, a defect detection algorithm based on SWT and nonlinear enhancement is proposed. In view of the small surface defect area and low contrast of the silicon nitride ceramic ball, a machine vision-based nondestructive inspection system for surface images is constructed. Sobel operation is used to eliminate the nonuniform background, and the silicon nitride ceramic ball surface image is decomposed by SWT. And frequency-domain index low-pass filtering is used to modify the decomposition coefficients, and an adaptive nonlinear model is proposed to enhance defects; finally, the image is reconstructed and segmented by the stationary wavelet inverse transform and the dynamic threshold method, respectively. The enhanced algorithm can effectively identify surface defects and is superior to traditional defect detection algorithms.

The Crack Propagation Trend Analysis in Ceramic Rolling Element Bearing considering Initial Crack Angle and Contact Load Effect

Silicon nitride ceramic bearings are widely used for their excellent performance. However, due to their special manufacturing method, cracks will occur on ceramic ball surface, and this initial surface crack will propagate under the action of cyclic stress, which will lead to material spalling. This will greatly limit its service life in practical applications, especially under heavy load at high speed. Therefore, it is necessary to study the surface crack propagation of silicon nitride ceramic bearings. In this paper, the effect of initial crack angle and contact load on crack growth is analysed by the finite element method (FEM). A three-dimensional finite element model of a silicon nitride bearing ball containing an initial crack is created by the FEM. The cracks are initially classified based on the angle between the crack and the bearing ball surface, and the location of the most dangerous load for each type of crack is known by theoretical analysis. The stress intensity factors (SIFs) are calculated for the crack front to investigate the effect of load position on crack growth. Subsequently, the SIFs are calculated for each type of crack angle subdivided again to investigate the effect of crack angle on crack propagation.

A study on fabrication of silicon nitride-based advanced ceramic composite materials via spark plasma sintering

The present study provides an overview of the fabrication of silicon nitride (Si3N4)-based advanced ceramic materials using spark plasma sintering. Being an excellent engineering ceramic material, silicon nitride is extensively being used in tribological components, aerospace, and automotive industries due to its unique blend of thermo-mechanical, tribological, and chemical properties. The selection of the sintering process, as well as sintering aids, strongly affects the properties of silicon nitride ceramics. Several conventional sintering techniques have been utilized in the past to optimize the structure and properties of silicon nitride ceramics such as hot pressing. However, spark plasma sintering, a relatively new, non-conventional, powder consolidating technique has recently gained significant attention to fabricate silicon nitride ceramic due to high heating rates, extremely short sintering time, and relatively low sintering temperatures which renders it an ideal technique for mass production. Both the composition and concentration of sintering additives during processing play a vital part in achieving the final desired properties of the bulk silicon nitride ceramic materials. In this review, the critical aspects like the effects of additive composition, additive concentration, and sintering parameters on microstructure and bulk properties of silicon nitride ceramics fabricated via spark plasma sintering are presented. The review may come in handy for scientists and engineers concerned with fabricating future silicon nitride composites with desired properties and performance for different engineering applications.