Abrasion Resistance Screening of Fibers for Woven Materials Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Woven materials are of interest in orthopedic implant design to serve as a replacement for articular cartilage and similar tissue. With every loading, fibers in woven materials encounter micro-scale sliding and potential abrasion. The goal of this project was to characterize the relative abrasive wear of several polymer fibers of different diameters that are suitable for in vivo use, including polyetheretherkeytone (PEEK), polypropolyene, and polyethylene fibers. The fibers were mounted in a slow curing epoxy and hand polished through several grades down to 0.05 åµm alumina. Plowing tests were performed with the atomic force microscope (AFM) and analyzed using Hector and Schmid's upper bound model. There was a general trend in the flow strength data that showed a higher flow strength along the longitudinal fiber axis, as would be expected due to the spinning manufacturing process.