Explicit finite element modeling of kinematics and contact mechanics of artificial hip and knee joints

An explicit finite element method was applied to simultaneously predict both kinematics and contact mechanics of artificial hip and knee joints under normal walking condition. Mesh sensitivity and numbers of time interval were examined on the model prediction for an artificial hip joint under the condition of three-dimensional forces and rotations. Furthermore, the explicit method was used to predict both contact pressure and accumulated sliding distance of the tibial insert of an artificial knee joint. The contact pressure and accumulated sliding distance predicted for the hip joint model showed good agreement with previous studies. The contact pressure and accumulated sliding distance at both the femoral-tibial interface and the insert-tray interface were also found to be similar to previous studies and those using a standard implicit method.